Upset, May 2018

D ISRUP T THE NOISE

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M AY 2018

P A R K W AY D R I V E

WAT E R PA R K S CODE ORANGE A PERFECT CIRCLE NOTHING, NOWHERE.

UPSETMAGAZINE .COM

T H E FA I M

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30 VENUES PLUS A BR AND NEW FESTIVAL SITE ON BRIGHTON BE ACH

BAKAR

TELEMAN

DYL AN CARTLIDGE

KAMA AL WILLIAMS

HIMAL AYA S

BØRNS TEN FÉ

HOCKEY DAD K TR AP

FREAK

RINA SAWAYAMA

GUS DAPPERTON

LET’S EAT GR ANDMA SONS OF KEMET

GAIKA

K YARY PAMY U PAMY U FRE YA RIDINGS IGUANA DE ATH CULT

MAHALIA

POPPY AJUDHA

LO MOON

NILÜFER YANYA

JOYCUT

LOUIS BAKER

GOAT GIRL

O CTAVIAN

MILK TEETH

GAFFA TAPE SANDY

GIANT PART Y LOT TO BOYZZ

NA AZ

JACK RIVER

EROL ALKAN

KOJEY R ADICAL

HUSKY LOOPS

DERMOT KENNEDY

EASY LIFE

BAD SOUNDS

S H I N E R S

EVES K ARYDA S

PALE WAVE S

DIDIRRI

MIK AEL A DAVIS

HER’S

PIP BLOM

HUNTER & THE BEAR

TICKETS ON SALE

DREAM STATE SAMM HENSHAW

SLOWTHAI

MANU CROOKS

TOM GRENNAN

ALMA

BILLY LO CKET T

NINA NESBIT T ROSS FROM FRIENDS (LIVE)

BRUNO MAJOR

SASSY 009

STELL A D ONNELLY

SAM FENDER

PEACH PIT

ROLLING BL ACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER

BLOXX

AMA LOU

AK /DK

PROMISEL AND

THE GO! TEAM

BENNY MAILS

MANSIONAIR

SUPERORGANISM

JIMOTHY L ACOSTE JAPANE SE BRE AKFA ST THE ORIELLES PHOEBE BRIDGERS

AND MANY MORE

“WE WERE NEVER GOING TO

ISSUE 32

RECREATE SOMETHING THAT WE

MAY 2018

MADE TEN YEARS AGO” UNDEROATH, P.26

UPSETMAGAZINE.COM EDITOR: Stephen Ackroyd

(stephen@upsetmagazine.com) DEPUTY EDITOR: Victoria Sinden

(viki@upsetmagazine.com)

ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Ali Shutler

(ali@upsetmagazine.com)

CONTRIBUTORS: Alex Bradley,

DEAR READER,

Brad Thorne, Chris Cope, Dan Harrison, Dillon Eastoe, Jack Press, Jasleen Dhindsa, Jessica Goodman, Josh Williams, Linsey Teggert, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin

THIS MONTH

PHOTOGRAPHERS: Patrick

RIOT!

Gunning, Sarah Louise Bennett All material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of The Bunker Publishing Ltd. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Upset or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally.

PUBLISHED FROM

THE BUNKER W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M

4 WATERPARKS 8 GENDER ROLES 9 NERVUS 10 2000TREES 12 CODE ORANGE 16 ARCANE ROOTS & JAMIE LENMAN 17 MALLORY KNOX 18 THE XCERTS 19 ITOLDYOUIWOULDEATYOU 20 PLAYLIST

ABOUT TO BREAK

22 THE FAIM 24 SELFISH THINGS 25 THE YADA YADA YADAS

FEATURES

26 UNDEROATH

34 SPEEDY ORTIZ 38 PARKWAY DRIVE 40 A PERFECT CIRCLE 42 NOTHING, NOWHERE.

RATED

44 THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS 46 PARKWAY DRIVE 47 TEEN CREEPS

LIVE

48 TONIGHT ALIVE 51 FALL OUT BOY 52 MILK TEETH 54 ALL TIME LOW 54 MUNCIE GIRLS 56 COMING UP

TEENAGE KICKS

You ready yet? What do you mean “what for?” Festivals, obviously. May is coming around, which means that our first forays into fields and dashes between inner city venues are fast approaching.

You’re gonna regret all those biscuits you’ve been eating through the winter. Just think of the bands. It’ll all be fine.

This month, we’re kicking off our summer of fun by heading down to Brighton’s The Great Escape. You’ll find details of our stage later on in this issue.

Head down. It’ll be a riot.

STEPHEN ACKROYD, EDITOR

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DISRUPT THE NOISE 3

EVERYTHING HAPPENING IN ROCK

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WATERPARKS! IN THE UK! UPSET TACKLES AWSTEN KNIGHT AHEAD OF HIS EPIC SHOW AT LONDON’S KOKO.

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WORDS: STEVEN LOFTIN. PHOTOS: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT.

N A DREARY SUNDAY this changing again? “The thing is, yeah I AFTERNOON OUTSIDE stopped listening to them and everything,” he OF LONDON’S KOKO, considers. “But I knew that they were good THERE’S ALREADY A songs still. I don’t know; I’m at the point now QUEUE OF THIRTYwhere, for the most part, they’re cool with me.”

STRONG PEOPLE EAGER Awsten talks with such hyperactivity that FOR THE VENUE TO OPEN. The band it’s hard not to get consumed by it. With each everyone’s waiting for is Waterparks - a few thought dancing like electricity, he speaks months earlier they released their second from a heart filled with fire and conviction. album ‘Entertainment’, and are now back on “They’ve gone over live really well. I think our shores to celebrate. seeing how into it everybody was - especially Somewhere in yesterday, Leeds was the depths of KOKO, so sick - was adding frontman Awsten an extra layer of Knight is beginning energy, and like, ‘OK, his day in awe at we gotta fucking do this new reality. this hard. Right now’.

“It’s so cool! I got It makes it, I guess, off the bus, looked easier to perform?” to my left and I He says, trailing off was like ‘OH SHIT!’” in a higher pitch.

Getting to this “You know what I point, however, did mean? Because I hang in the balance feel like if I were up before the album there acoustic the had even dropped. whole time, I’d hate In January, myself a little bit Awsten released an more.” open letter stating This next chapter that ‘Entertainment’ for Waterparks is had become one that’s seen unlistenable to them taking strides him. It took some in cementing time, but eventually, themselves as he found a new nothing but honest. level of depth to They’re unashamedly AWSTEN KNIGHT this particular set their inspirations; of songs, and, he they don’t hide the announced, was fact that pop is just as much an influence as excited to actually release them. punk - and no, that doesn’t make them popWell, now that he’s on a tour solely punk. It makes them the next step in a natural dedicated to them, is he worried at all about evolution.

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“The way Waterparks songs work, it’s like, you’ve got a trojan horse that shit,” Awsten enthuses, smirking. “You send it in disguised, dressed up as like a fucking pop-rock/electronic banger pop thing, except… inside…” breaking down into a secret-sharing whisper he ends: ‘it’s all the sad shit…’’

While Awsten may use allegory to describe the basis for Waterparks, and what you’ll get, it all comes from a place of sincerity. They only deliver what they truly feel conveys what they, or at least Awsten, have suffered through. When the topic of those that write songs for the sheer purpose of being relatable crops up, he finds a new surge of energy.

“See, but what’s even worse is when they aren’t writing about a specific thing. I know a lot of people who, they’ll write vague struggle lyrics, and I fucking hate vague struggle lyrics!” he exclaims.

“I’ll ask out of curiosity what it’s about, and they’ll be like, ‘Oh you know, I just want it to be relatable for people so that way they can apply whatever they want to it, that’s why we keep it vague’. I don’t fuck with that.”

You can hear the sheer emotional investment all across ‘Entertainment’.

The targeting of bands that he touches upon here (‘TANTRUM’), and heartbreak (‘Crybaby’), being two of the leading themes that, ultimately, cursed it for Awsten. It’s this fact that gives Waterparks a solid leg up in the battle to be heard.

“It’s pandering. You’re like, ‘You’re sad, you want something vague to be sad about?! This is applicable to almost anything!’” he muses, before sidetracking. “That’s my favourite word to say by the way, applicable.

Applicable. But yeah, vague struggle lyrics are ridiculous. There’s nothing exciting about that.”

With the investment paying off, 6 UPSETMAGAZINE.COM

and their I see like crowds someone growing tuning my ever guitar; then bigger, I’m like Awsten’s ‘Ohhhh shit’, become it’s like a real even more band, kinda.” acutely While aware of Waterparks everyone are still AWSTEN KNIGHT around climbing him - for a reason you might not quite the ladder, their growing popularity suspect. is impossible to ignore. “I block a lot “I really see them now! This is the of that out,” Awsten begins on this first tour where I can actually see developing spotlight. “And I try not to the crowd, and this is my first time look at internet stuff too much, like seeing faces - and it’s so weird!” he you know mentions and things like blurts excitedly, referring to his recent that - well, depending on my mood. eye surgery. “And so, now I can see if “But what I do like to do,” he someone looks bored, but I can also admits, “is when I’m in my room, I keep see if someone’s crying… It’s not like a stack of like the magazines I’m on I’m sitting here like, ‘SOB!’ - but I want the cover of, just next to my bed. It’s a to know that it’s hitting because it grounding thing. But I honestly don’t gets me, you know what I mean? So, think I can get to a point where I’m if it’s only getting me, that means I like, a dick about things.” didn’t translate it well enough.”

The humble part of Awsten is never To be fair, it’s not far from reality. too far away. For all the jokes, the Waterparks fans love them with such excited takes on just about everything, palpable energy that it’s impossible there’s always that grounding not to get caught up in the ensuing that brings it all back around and adoring madness. makes peace with the madness.

Awsten’s no stranger to this Being managed by two veterans of life himself, after revealing that he the scene, Benji and Joel Madden occasionally ditched school to go see [Good Charlotte] has offered its own the likes of The Used, Taking Back wisdom. “They stress the importance Sunday and even Childish Gambino. of celebrating the wins and seeing He’s entirely in disbelief of the things that are happening and growing crowd outside, a solid eight acknowledging them. hours before the doors even open.

“I try to do that, but I don’t know.

“See, I keep having weird little When I think about stuff too hard, moments like that… it doesn’t feel I’m like ‘Oh shit’, so it’s better if I just like we’re ‘there’,” he contemplates. “I keep driving my shitty car and look at still don’t feel all of that, but there magazine covers and be like ‘Ok, we’re have been moments on this tour - like cool!’ You have to find that balance. yesterday at soundcheck, I walk in, and You don’t want to fall into the pit of I see them lifting up this giant banner ‘Ah, shit’,” he ends through laughter. that says our name, and then the big “You know what I mean? You have to metal things that have the lights. And find that nice little middle ground.” P

HANPDMADE 2018 LINE-U

re of the Left, The Drenge, Circa Waves, Futu S, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Wytches, Gengahr, IDLE lf, Indoor Pets, Black Gender Roles, Turbowo Cape Fly, Black Peaks, Futures, Get Cape Wear + more Weirds, Kamikaze Girls

FUN , SOR TED. YOU R SUM ME R OF

5TH-6TH MAY

GET HYPED FOR LEICESTER’S ALL -STAR BANK HOLS WEEKENDER WITH ACE NEW UPSTARTS GENDER ROLES.

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EICESTER WEEKENDER HANDMADE HAS A TOP LINE-UP THIS YEAR. From indie faves Drenge, Circa Waves and The Big Moon, to some of rock’s finest including Black Peaks, Future of the Left and The Wytches. There are also some buzzy up-and-comers, like Gender Roles here, who also have a brand new EP. HEY TOM, WHAT ARE YOU GUYS UP TO AT THE MO, DO YOU HAVE A LOT ON? So at the minute, we’ve gone from playing relentlessly to planning restlessly. Just getting prepared for the rest of the year really. A lot more shows, writing, recording and a lot of trying to keep up. It’s going to be busy but super exciting and a heck ton of fun.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR NEW EP. ‘Lazer Rush’ is the latest EP, we’ve been releasing songs from it every few months, and now the 7” is ready to meet the world along with a cheeky digital download included. It’s about a lot of different things in its entirety, each song has it’s own story, but funnily enough, it’s not about lasers. Weird, right? It’s

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generally about everyday life, problems that we run into and thinking differently about situations. Having said that, I guess most songs are about that, unless you’re Radiohead.

YOU’VE A FREE-ENTRY TOUR BEFORE FESTIVAL SEASON, HAVEN’T YOU? WHAT A NEAT IDEA. We are indeed! Cannot wait to get back on the road. It’s a really neat idea, the best things in life are free, unless they cost something, in which case, some things that are free are good, just like our tour. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and it will be more fun for more people if it has cost them less. It’s basically one giant win-win situation. We’ll be playing nine shows from Brighton to Glasgow and some in-between.

DO YOU MIX UP YOUR SET FOR FESTIVALS VS YOUR OWN SHOWS, OR IS THAT NOT REALLY A THING? We’ve never had to really think about that before! The ones we have played, we’ve treated the same as any show really just based it on how long we have and what equipment is working at the time. It’s nice to feel prepared, but it’s good to chuck in a couple of surprises

TOM, GENDER ROLES to keep it juicy. Like if Jed’s bass stops working me and Jordan will just play something, or if I break a string, the rhythm twins step in.

ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO HANDMADE THIS MAY? THERE ARE LOADS OF GREAT BANDS ON THE BILL. You bet your blooming banana bread we are! Not had the opportunity to go, so to be playing is great! The line-up looks so good. The stage we’re playing (Scholar) alone has some belters. Overall really stoked for Get.Cape, Black Peaks, Dinosaur-Pile Up, Protomartyr, Kamikaze Girls and The Wytches!: DILLON EASTOE .

WO RDS LICK PHO TO: STE VE GUL

DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE COMING UP THAT WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT? We’re about to get back into playing relentlessly, so there will be even more shows/tours we’ll be announcing over the next few months. P HANDMADE FESTIVAL TAKES PLACE FROM 5TH-6TH MAY AT O2 ACADEMY LEICESTER.

17TH-19TH MAY

THE GREAT ESCAPE 4TH-6TH MAY

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HARITY EVENTS ARE GREAT, AREN’T THEY? Everyone having a ton of fun while raising money for a bloody good cause? Dorset festival Teddy Rocks has so far raised over £170,000 for the charity Teddy20, which helps children and families fighting cancer. Loads of musicians are lending a helping hand for 2018, including Em Foster and Nervus (plus her other band, Funeral Shakes, too).

HEY EM, HOW HAVE YOU LOT BEEN SINCE THE RELEASE OF YOUR NEW ALBUM, PLEASED TO HAVE IT OUT? It’s been amazing. We’re chart-botherers now. Hanging out in the Rock Chart with Disturbed.

AND THE TOUR WITH MILK TEETH, GOING WELL SO FAR? IT MUST BE LOADS OF FUN ON THE ROAD WITH THAT BUNCH. It’s the best. It’s all very silly and very fun, and they’re absolutely killing it every night. Every night, it’s dead. Because of Milk Teeth.

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR FESTIVAL SEASON, THEN? By touring loads until we’re completely broke and our partners forget what we look like!

WILL TEDDY ROCKS BE NERVUS’S FIRST FESTIVAL OF 2018? YOU’VE SOME MORE COMING UP TOO, HAVEN’T YOU? Yes! We’re doing about a million. I just can’t remember what they are. Great Escape! Truck! 2000 Trees! This is My Fest! Booze Cruise! I think.

TEDDY ROCKS IS RAISING MONEY TO FIGHT CHILDREN’S CANCER, IS THAT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT DREW YOU TO IT? Absolutely. I think most people have lost a few people they love to cancer. Also Feeder and Ash are playing.

IT MUST BE ODD PLAYING THE EVENT TWICE, WITH BOTH NERVUS AND FUNERAL SHAKES - DOES THAT HAPPEN OFTEN? We’re doing it a couple of times this year, but it’s cool! I love playing music; I’m so eternally grateful that I’m in two bands.

ARE YOU A FAN OF ANY OF THE OTHER BANDS PLAYING? I grew up listening to Sonic Boom Six and their singer Laila is a friend and an inspiration. Can’t wait to see them again.

WHO ELSE ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING ACROSS 2018’S FESTIVALS? Oof! Well, I’m playing a few and going to a few - so I’m going to list a bunch I’m really excited to see at festivals we may or may not be playing at.

Thundercat, Doe, Earth Wind & Fire, Enter Shikari, Creeper, RVIVR, Fresh, itoldyouiwouldeatyou, Conjurer. That line up should be a festival in itself.

WHAT ELSE IS COMING UP FOR NERVUS? Some of the most absolutely bonkers stuff that we can’t tell you about yet. Not that we don’t trust you, but I think you’ll tell people. P TEDDY ROCKS TAKES PLACE FROM 4TH-6TH MAY IN BLANDFORD, DORSET.

Guess who’s heading down to The Great Escape again this year? Yes, it’s us. How did you know? Upset’s hosting a stage at one of our fave Brighton venues, Green Door Store, on Thursday 17th May. It’s got a bang-on line-up, too - including Bodega, Black Futures, Iguana Death Cult, The Ganjas and Ecca Vandal. It’s going to be a messy one for sure. Also heading to the seaside in just a few weeks, you’ll find The Faim, IDLES, Milk Teeth, Demob Happy, Dream State, Fangclub and loads more names that often frequent these very pages. Visit greatescapefestival.com for more.

FESTIVAL UPDATES .

READING & LEEDS

Mike Shinoda is heading to Reading & Leeds this summer in support of his upcoming solo album. Also new to the August bank holiday bill, are Black Peaks, Dinosaur Pile-up, The Used, Spring King, I Don’t Know How But They Found Me (the new project from ex-Panic! At The Disco-er Dallon Weekes), Petrol Girls, The Xcerts, The Faim and The Joy Formidable. All the info’s at readingandleedsfestival.com.

TRUCK

Truck Festival has announced a new wave of bands, including some of Upset’s faves: Drenge, Milk Teeth, Doe, Hellions and itoldyouiwouldeatyou.

The latest news also features Pins, Bad Sounds, Fickle Friends, King NoOne, Yowl, Hey Charlie and Orchards, who are all heading to Oxfordshire this July. Visit truckfestival.com for tickets, details and stuff.

TEDDY ROCKS LINE-UP

Feeder, Ash, Mallory Knox, Turbwolf, Nervus, INK, Dream State, Black Peaks, Palm Reader, Press to MECO, Grumble Bee, Woes, Spector, INME, Funeral Shakes, Sonic Boom Six, Milestones, Dead!, Weatherstate + more

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KNOW ABOU T...

EVERYTHI NG YOU NEED TO

PANIC! STATIONS

Panic! At The Disco have announced a brand new album! Titled ‘Pray For The Wicked’, it’s set to arrive on 22nd June - and we already have a couple of bangers from it. You can check out ‘Say Amen (Saturday Night)’ and ‘(Fuck A) Silver Lining’ on upsetmagazine.com now. P!ATD are set to headline Reading & Leeds this summer.

THERE’S NO ‘MAYBE’ ABOUT IT, THE GET UP KIDS ARE BACK The Get Up Kids are back. Signing with Big Scary Monsters in the UK, the band will be releasing their four-track ‘Kicker’ EP on 8th June. If the promise of new material for the first time in seven years wasn’t exciting enough, well, how about a new track? Check out ‘Maybe’ on upsetmagazine.com right now.

SELECTION BOX

Dance Gavin Dance are back with a brand new album. Following on from 2016’s ‘Mothership’, the band are set to release ‘Artificial Selection’ on 8th June via our friends at Rise Records.

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FESTIVAL ORGANISER JAMES SCARLETT REVEALS THE VERY BEST THINGS ABOUT 2000TREES 2018.

IT’S THE BEST PLACE TO DISCOVER YOUR NEW FAVOURITE BAND In the past, we’ve had before-theywere-famous sets from the likes of Frank Turner, Twin Atlantic, Nothing But Thieves and Wolf Alice and I’m particularly proud of introducing our fans to Black Peaks and Brutus for the first time (two of the best bands on the planet in my opinion). This year I’d suggest people keep an eye out for Fangclub, Sløtface, Chapter and Verse, Gender Roles, Blood Command and Haggard Cat – they are all awesome.

YOU CAN BRING YOUR OWN BOOZE Unlike most festivals, you can actually bring your own beers to 2000trees and take them wherever you like, even into the main arena to watch our headliners.

If you couple that with the best value ticket price you’ll find anywhere then you should be able to come to 2000trees without breaking the bank!

THERE IS AN INCREDIBLE FOREST STAGE Deep in the forest, you’ll find an awesome outdoor stage which plays host to stripped-back and acoustic sets from around 50 acts across the weekend. It’s a great place to go if you need a break from the pit and I think it often provides the weekend’s biggest highlights. In the last few years, we’ve had amazing sets from The Wonder

Years, Hundred Reasons, The Xcerts, Frank Carter and Mallory Knox. My particular favourite was the incredible Jamie Lenman covers set in 2016. This year’s line-up is still a secret but believe me, it is very exciting.

THERE IS A LATE NIGHT SILENT DISCO From 11pm to 3am you can throw on a pair of headphones and dance the night away. Our punters absolutely love it and you get a choice of alternative/rock (in our Cave stage) or something more commercial at the main stage. Honestly, the view of a few thousand people dancing under the moonlight is truly a sight to behold and the only people looking annoyed are the security team listening to a lot of out of tune singing!

And watch this space for news of some surprise DJs coming your way for 2018.

IT’S THE MOST INTIMATE, FRIENDLY AND BEAUTIFUL FESTIVAL YOU’LL EVER GO TO There’s loads of space, it’s nice and clean, the neighbours are friendly, and because the site is small, you’re never far from a stage or a bar. It’s a great feeling to bed down under the stars in the beautiful Cotswolds and escape reality for a few wild days and nights. P 2000TREES TAKES PLACE FROM 12TH-14TH JULY AT UPCOTE FARM, NEAR CHELTENHAM, GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

“Their best yet... it’s a rewarding, wild ride” Classic Rock

smarturl.it/TheFreeLife

“A grungy, scuzzy delight, under the surface it’s a record shinier and tougher than diamonds. Like the band itself, impossible to break and worth a fortune” Upset

demobhappy.lnk.to/HolyDoom

CODE ORANGE’S ALBUM ‘FOREVER’ SAW THEM BREAK DOWN WALLS - AND THEY’RE NOT STOPPING THERE.

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ODE ORANGE WERE NEVER GOING TO BE THE KIND OF BAND TO TAKE IT EASY AFTER GETTING A GRAMMY NOM FOR THEIR THIRD ALBUM. It’s now been just over a year since ‘Forever’ came out and we’ve already been gifted a brand spanking new track - with more on the way.

“I want it to open the idea of dropping some stuff from time to time,” drummer and singer Jami Morgan begins, explaining their new super-productivity, “but we’re still going to do LPs and records, that’s the main goal.”

The fact that Code Orange made it to such a prestigious award shows the steps forward that the metal/hardcore scene is making, and these guys are helping to spearhead the harder crossover.

“It’s important for this kind of music to play catch up a little bit in some ways,” Jami considers, “and I think that dropping things on the fly is kind of the way music comes out now.

“It’s about finding a balance between the things that we love of the metal and hardcore world; there’s a lot that [other genres] could learn from this world. I think it goes on both sides.”

Jami’s awareness speaks volumes for the band, who have been lauded for their abrasive return to hardcore.

Unafraid to push boundaries, and helping build bridges that have separated the counterculture for years, Code Orange are ready to continue spreading their brutal gospel.

“We’re just a different kind of band,” he states. “We have a lot of different elements. We dropped a couple of remixes, Shade [Balderose, guitar] remixed a couple of Alt-J songs, that was very cool. We dropped a single; we dropped a remix of that single. I want to keep putting stuff out; I want to keep the ball rolling. I don’t want to wait.”

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WORDS: STEVEN LOFTIN.

JAMI MORGAN Code Orange are unafraid to do whatever the fuck they want, which is why the future of this band is so exciting.

Though, Jami reassures that one thing won’t be changing.

“I think we’ve all been shot in the heart with a lot of ideas, [but] the hard aspect in the core of the band is not changing because we love that feeling - we love that intensity,” he muses. “But the band will continue to grow and change, and just become whatever we want it to become.

“The hard stuff is, for us, by far the hardest thing to write because it’s very, very, very difficult to do it creatively and to do it in a way that feels in any way new.

Pretty much every hard riff, or hard part, has already been written in terms of guitar, so it’s finding twists on that.”

Using remixes as a way of showcasing their fortitude in destruction and recreation, Code Orange are keen to build on the heritage of bands who’ve trod similar ground before.

“Obviously Nine Inch Nails,” he considers, “then there are heavier bands.

Fear Factory did a remanufactured record [where] they did a bunch of remix records of their own… we just want to have a different take on it.

“We’re interested in remixing our own stuff, remixing other people’s stuff… We have this electronic element that is fun to play with. We could make some really

cool songs, and that’s the main thing - but you know, I do think it’s a bridge. As long as the remixes that we do are super cool and they vibe with us, and they sound like our band in some way, and I can listen to them, and I’m proud of them, then I’m cool with that.”

That doesn’t mean Code Orange are just going to go about tearing apart just any old song, though. “We’ll never do a remix that we think is super whack just to do it,” Jami offers. “But I do think it’s a really cool bridge, so we’re definitely going to be exploring those avenues - and we already are. I think we have some ideas for that; we have a lot of ideas for that.”

Of course, this spotlight all stems from the revered ‘Forever’ and the wider embrace and critical acclaim that came with it. Reflecting upon this, Jami says matter-of-factly: “I feel we should’ve been there, and I feel we should’ve won [the Grammy], so... I never think ‘why us’ or ‘why this’, that’s a very loser mentality.

“It is hard not to think; why did this not work for this record, or how do we get back here? [But] it’s like, fuck all that!” he exclaims. “We’re just going to do our shit, and I know it’s great, and I believe in it 100% as I always have, and if it works out, great if it doesn’t, whatever. I’m going to do everything in my power to make it work.”

On whether or not this has influenced any of this change in mentality, or pursuing a faster future, he repeats: “We just do our shit. Most people want to come around and say it’s good, but if you start psychoanalysing that, you’re gonna lose what got you to the dance.”

He ends with the most reassuring statement of them all: “I think if people like the band, they know that we don’t care about that kind of thing. We’re always down to stir it up. We’ll get back there for sure, but we’re not going to change our music.”P CODE ORANGE TOUR THE UK FROM 15TH APRIL.

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CULTURE CLUB

Culture Abuse have finally announced details of their second album and we don’t have that long to wait. Not really.

‘Bay Dream‘ is out 15th June via their new home of Epitaph Records. If you want a taste, check out the wonderful ‘Calm E‘ on upsetmagazine.com now.

BETTER THAN EVERYONE

Petal has confirmed her second album, the follow-up to 2013 EP ‘Scout’, and 2015 debut ‘Shame’. ‘Magic Gone’ will be released on 15th June, and is preceded by the track ’Better Than You’.

FOR MIKE SHINODA, POST ‘POST TRAUMATIC’ COMES ‘POST TRAUMATIC’ Mike Shinoda has shared details of his new solo album, ‘Post Traumatic’ – and it’s coming out this spring. Due 15th June via Warner Bros Records, the announcement is accompanied by two new tracks: ‘Crossing A Line’ and ‘Nothing Makes Sense Anymore’. The release will also feature three of the tracks from his recent ‘Post Traumatic’ EP, released earlier this year.

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AGAINST THE CURRENT. DROP NEW BANGERS SUPPORTING FALL OUT BOY AT THE O2 CHECK UPSETMAGAZINE.COM TO HEAR MORE!

PHOTO: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT

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WE CAUGHT UP WITH ARCANE ROOTS AND JAMIE LENMAN AS THEY HIT AMSTERDAM.

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FTER TEARING UP THE UK FOR A FEW DATES EARLIER THIS YEAR, ARCANE ROOTS HAVE TAKEN ‘MELANCHOLIA HYMNS’ INTO EUROPE WITH NONE OTHER THAN JAMIE LENMAN IN SUPPORT. While Andrew Groves is no stranger to running around Europe with ‘Roots, it’s Jamie’s first foray abroad for ten years. What better time to share some stories of being on the road?

HOW’S EUROPE TREATING YOU? ANDREW: Usually we do Europe first then the UK, I don’t know why. The UK is much harder, less forgiving, so we’ve done all the stressful stuff and have come over knowing what to expect. It’s actually been pretty stress-free.

FOR YOU JAMIE, HOW HAVE YOU FOUND COMING OUT AS THE SUPPORT HAVING JUST FINISHED

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WORDS: ALEXANDER BRADLEY.

YOUR HEADLINE TOUR? JAMIE: I quite like being a support act, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been a support act, actually. In one sense there’s pressure off because you’re just an appetiser for the main act but in the other sense, you do have a responsibility to not go out there and fuck everyone off.

IT’S BEEN A WHILE SINCE YOU’VE BEEN IN EUROPE, JAMIE, WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER OF BEING OUT HERE? JAMIE: The first time we ever went on stage in Europe was with Billy Talent back when I was in Reuben. First ever gig we did was this fucking enormous arena, and the roar went up. They knew it wasn’t Billy Talent going on but some band they’ve never fucking heard of they were like, “We are ready for fucking anything!!” and we gave it to them. You don’t get that anywhere else.

WHAT ARE THE BEST TOURS?

ANDREW: These last three days.

JAMIE: Awww man. You can go on tour with a band you admire musically, and maybe you don’t get to be such good friends. You can go with great friends and like, “I respect what you do but I wouldn’t listen to it.” But it’s very rare to get a band you would actually listen to. [Arcane Roots’] ‘Melancholia Hymns’ is one of my favourite records of last year, and we’re already buddies outside of music, and that’s fucking rare!

WHAT ARE THE WORST SHOWS? ANDREW: Actually Brighton, not in Europe. Because our show now is a runaway train, we press play and then we are hooked in. The light show, everything is running off this thing which is painstakingly programmed but, even still, I am blind, and it’s this click in our ears.

We were playing Brighton, at The Haunt, and we just kept having more and more problems every day, and it was so new to everyone. The worst is knowing stuff is

going wrong. It was the best crowd of the tour and every two seconds the show was dropping out - everything stopping, the tracks stopping, the lights blowing, power going. I can hear and see people running around to patch things up, and the crowd is going wild, and I’m just imploding inside, getting so angry that God has done this to me. I think it was the first time we sat down after the show and no one said anything for such a long time.

JAMIE: There was a tour back in the band days where I got pretty severe food poisoning the day we before went out and John, the bass player, broke his back and could hardly move... and it was the tour we decided to wear these foam helmets so we couldn’t see anything. Then I went to the hospital after the show and had a pint of jet black blood removed from me. Then we left, and I stole the hospital gown, that was a disaster.

ANDREW: That beats our story.

FIND OUT WHAT YOUR FAVE BANDS TAKE ON THE ROAD. THIS MONTH...

MALLORY KNOX MALLORY KNOX ARE ON TOUR!

Brighton Haunt (16th April), Cardiff Globe (17th), Exeter Cavern (18th), Stoke Sugarmill (20th), Glasgow King Tut’s (22nd), Manchester Rebellion (23rd), Birmingham Mama Roux’s (24th), Nottingham Bodega (26th)

WHERE DO YOU LOVE MOST IN EUROPE? ANDREW: In the old days, we did everything we could in every town we went to see everything we could. It was amazing, some of my favourite memories. Germany was just GCSE for me for so long then we started playing places like Nuremberg, Hamburg and Freiburg and it’s beautiful.

We have friends in those towns now. We were in Gruyeres in Switzerland and stood on top of a mountain in H.R. Giger’s house, and it was unbelievable. And we are going to space tomorrow! Going to the European Space Agency and I’m going to ask about “string theory”.

JAMIE: I’d like to get down to Italy and Spain, but the problem for me is that I don’t really fly. People are always asking me to play festivals in a far-flung place, but you can’t go in a van all the way there and back.

HUEL Staying healthy while on the road can be hard with all the fast food, and after show drinks, so this is a lifesaver. I’ve only recently discovered it, but its basically a fully balanced healthy meal in a bottle!

BOTH OF YOU DO A LOT FOR SUPPORTING NEW BANDS, HOW WOULD YOU RECOMMEND BANDS SHOULD APPROACH PLAYING IN EUROPE? JAMIE: You’ve just got to make friends.

Reach out to bands you like from different countries. Send them your stuff. They will say, “Come play this house party, stay ‘round ours.”

ANDREW: I think that is the nice angle of “the inter-webs” is that all the music I listen to now, isn’t in the Top 40. MySpace was great for that. I think we are lucky, being British - it’s an accidental gift - but we have noticed that we could play with so many European bands.

Like Jamie said, so much of our early shows were getting in touch [with local bands].

JAMIE: Who you’re chums with counts for a lot. P

HARMONICA My harmonica has come with me on every tour since I bought it. I absolutely love Ryan Adams ‘Prisoner’ album, and that’s the reason I got one, to play songs from that. I tried to play Happy Birthday for Joe on it once, but he wasn’t too impressed. I rock a Hohner Special 20, in case you wondered.

SWIM TRUNKS I’m not even a very good swimmer, but these have to come on every tour just in case we strike lucky, and the hotel we’re at has a pool. Me and Dave are usually the ones that go for a dip. We’ve even been known to walk a few miles in the rain to the nearest swimming pool for a dip on our days off.

TOOLS I’ll always take my own tools and bits to do repairs. I’m quite hands-on, and I love being independent with these things. I remember the first time we got our MK lights. All the LEDs fell off in sound check, so I was out there with our lighting guy half hour before doors at Glasgow ABC refixing all the lights to the letters.

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THE

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F YOU KNOW A BAND INTIMATELY, THERE’S A GOOD CHANCE YOUR FAVE TRACKS AREN’T THEIR BIG HITS, OR THE OPENER ON THEIR BREAKTHROUGH ALBUM. No, it’s more likely some obscure song from their early days - an old b-side, or perhaps a hidden cut if you’re getting on a bit (damn you streaming for ruining hidden tracks). Jordan, Murray and Tom introduce their top deep cuts from The Xcerts’ back catalogue.

‘GUM’, FROM 2010 ALBUM ‘SCATTERBRAIN’ JORDAN: “Still, in my opinion, one of the oddest songs we ever wrote, on a record which dealt, exclusively, in ODD. Strange, syncopated guitars in the verses, and even stranger lyrics about sleeping in trees, and ghosts with sick-skin. And yet, despite all the grotesque imagery and obtuse melody, the song constantly resolves to a super-straight, super-catchy chorus that,

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DE EP C UT S to me, sounds like it’d fit on any other record of ours, past or present. Also, I will never forget the recording process, and hearing Murray’s guttural, where-the-fuckdid-that-come-from scream over the final section, still gives me chills.”

‘NORTH EAST KID’, B-SIDE FOR 2014 SINGLE ‘SHAKING IN THE WATER’ MURRAY: “This song was written during the writing sessions for [2014 album] ‘There Is Only You’ and was funnily enough inspired by the writing process for [2015’s] ‘I Don’t Care’. I must have written 15 different choruses for ‘I Don’t Care’.

Sincerely, I lost it. During this period, we were being courted by a major label who thought the song was a hit but didn’t think any of the choruses were good enough. I was very young and naive back then, but I was really angry and hurt that someone could so easily devalue the lyrical meaning purely because they didn’t deem the words ‘hit-worthy’ enough. I was also incredibly emotionally drained

around this time, so in response to the guy at the label and the entire situation, I wrote ‘North East Kid’. Unfortunately, we only ever recorded a demo, so its full potential was never realised. It was massively inspired by The Smashing Pumpkins, so I like to think if we had recorded it properly, it would have been cinematic and rousing.”

‘TEAR ME DOWN’, FROM 2011 EP ‘STAIRS TO NOISE’ TOM: “This has always been a favourite of mine. It never made it on to a record, but we did play it live a few times a while back.

It’s pretty dark and sad sounding, a morose lullaby with a slightly more hopeful chorus, which is like a lot of the music I listen to still.

I understand our decision back in 2011 not to include it on our second album; it’s a veritable patchwork quilt of differing sections, but I’m glad it’s haunting melody is out there in the world.” P

R

ELEASING A NEW EP VIA ALCOPOP! RECORDS X FAILURE

BY DESIGN RECORDS, HARD AT WORK ON AN ALBUM, GEARING UP FOR FESTIVAL SEASON, AND OPENING FOR DAPHNE & CELESTE, EVERYTHING’S IN MOTION FOR EMO-POP STALWARTS ITOLDYOUIWOULDEATYOU. Having joined the collective in the middle of all the hustle and bustle, guitarist (and Johnny Foreigner / Yr Poetry / Yr Friends musician) Alexei Berrow talked us through stepping into the life of one of the UK’s most exciting outfits.

WHEN DID YOU FIRST MEET ITOLDYOUIWOULDEATYOU? I think my first Eatyou experience was them playing on the bill at a JF show a few years ago. One of them marathon all-dayer shows in a small town where you’re obliged to enjoy ten bands before it’s your turn. I had a J, wandered in halfway through their set and was just mesmerised. They were just so obviously a -gang-. As a touring musician/snob, you get really good at recognising the fakes, spotting the disparity between the image someone’s trying to project, and what they’re actually projecting. And there was none of that shit with these folk. They weren’t trying to project, they just were. To a bitter connoisseur of indie band posers, that honesty in stagecraft is rare, and I’m a lot more forgiving of substandard songs/performances if I don’t have to get through a layer of clichés first. So I was mind blown that they could play to a technical level I’m still reaching for and had these huge hooky melodies. Seeing a band do all that so well, and so fucking un-cynically, was kinda profound. I skipped the last song to go cry and pull myself together. It was probably ‘Letters’ which would have just ruined me, but I can name maybe half a dozen bands that have fully pierced me like that in my entire life. So yeh, definitely a fan first.

HOW DID YOU COME TO START PLAYING WITH THEM? They’d send me beautiful demos of shit, like, rough bounces of Bob’s recording of ‘IANYF’, and I made a joke, like, ‘when

ALEXEI BERROW - BETTER KNOWN AS JOHNNY FOREIGNER’S FRONTMAN - HAS JOINED ITOLDYOUIWOULDEATYOU AS THEY PREPARE TO RELEASE A NEW EP. WORDS: JESSICA GOODMAN.

you’re three albums deep I am totally going to Johnny Marr you.’ They called my bluff early. I took a tiny bit of persuading cos Yr Poetry is me and Jun’s absolute baby. Like, out of all the plates I’m spinning, that’s the one that I get the most out of in cathartic/artistic terms, and I’d hate for us to lose out cos I’m busy side-manning for another gig, as much as I’d hate to ruin an Eat You thing for selfish -butihavemyownband- reasons.

But they’re super accommodating. Same with Holly and NALA, I’d like to think the outside-the-bubble experience we bring is worth more than whatever opportunities we’ll miss. Broken fucking Social Scene ftw, it’s not a scenario I could see panning out were we not all so entranced by what we’re building together. I don’t know; it’s the band that made me cry in a nightclub toilet, I couldn’t really turn it down.

THERE’S A NEW EATYOU EP ON THE HORIZON, ‘GET TERRIFIED’, WHICH COMPILES SOME PHYSICALLY UNRELEASED SINGLES WITH SOME NEW MATERIAL. TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT?

So the three songs on ‘Get Terrified’ existed before I joined. I think ‘Divine Violence’ had just come out, but the rest were secret. They sent them to me to learn, and I thought, ‘fuck yeh I made the right decision here.’ So while I’d love to take credit for them guitars, they’re none of them me. My total contribution consisted of turning up super ill to the ‘Get Terrified’ video shoot for Sam to gracefully edit me cowering behind the better-looking people.

IF YOU WERE TO SUM UP OR SELL THE EP IN A SENTENCE, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE IT? I’d say; the last great ITYIWEY release before Alexei ruined them with distortion pedals.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR ITOLDYOUIWOULDEATYOU? The Eat You train is on tour at the end of April and rolling into summer with festivals that I don’t know if I can talk about yet, but right now we’re all up to our guts in .wav files making the album.

P ITOLDYOUIWOULDEATYOU’S EP ‘GET TERRIFIED’ IS OUT 20TH APRIL.

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THERE’S A WHOLE UNIVERSE OF MUSIC OUT THERE TO ENJOY. HERE’S WHAT WE’VE BEEN LISTENING TO THIS MONTH. D CHECK IT OUT, YOU MIGHT FIN SOMETHING NEW. PETAL

BETTER THAN YOU

We’re sure it’s not the point of the title to the first song of Petal’s new album, but ‘Better Than You’ feels pretty aptly named, what with it being The Best. FROM NEW

ALBUM ‘MAGIC GONE’, OUT 15TH JUNE.

ZEAL & ARDOR GRAVEDIGGER’S CHANT

Taken from new album ‘Stranger Fruit’, Zeal & Ardor’s latest cut could be anything it wanted - packed with soul and spirit, it’s a compelling listen. FROM NEW ALBUM

‘STRANGER FRUIT’, OUT 8TH JUNE.

CULTURE ABUSE CALM E

Opening with a barking dog, Culture Abuse’s woozy, melodic garage punk is made for warmer days and brighter nights. FROM NEW ALBUM ‘BAY DREAM’, OUT 15TH JUNE.

SAY AMEN (SATURDAY NIGHT)

Brendon could kill a man with a baked potato. FROM NEW

ALBUM ‘PRAY FOR THE WICKED’, OUT 22ND JUNE.

ORCHARDS LUV U 2

True fact - if a band open a track with a gang vocal ‘woo’, they’re then contractually obliged to ink a deal with Big Scary Monsters. Which is exactly what Orchards just did. STREAM ‘LUV U 2’ ONLINE NOW.

HALFNOISE

PETROL GIRLS

We didn’t expect Zac Farro to make music that sounds like early 00s dancefloor legends The Rapture and Radio 4, but he has, and it’s glorious.

“I’m not a victim,” opens Petrol Girls’ first single for new label home Hassle Records. This is more than surviving - they’re thriving..

ALL THAT LOVE IS

SURVIVOR

FROM NEW EP ‘FLOWERSS’, OUT 4TH MAY.

STREAM ‘SURVIVOR’ ONLINE NOW.

SNAIL MAIL

THYLA

With a debut album due later this year, it’s time to get ‘up’ on the Snail Mail hype.

‘Pristine’ is a great place to start. FROM NEW ALBUM

Scuzzy, dirty indie rock from the top of the pile, upstarts Thyla already feel like they’ll be bringing us bangers in bulk from now on. STREAM ‘I

PRISTINE

‘LUSH’, OUT 8TH JUNE.

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LISTEN TO THIS

PANIC! AT THE DISCO

I WAS BITING

WAS BITING’ ONLINE NOW.

THE BEST NEW BANDS. THE HOTTEST NEW MUSIC.

WANT A NEW BAND CRUSH? CHECK OUT THIS LOT! >>>

THE REGRETTES

We’re going to be hearing a lot more from scuzzy sweet pop-rock gang The Regrettes over the next few months, as they make raids into the UK live scene.

For now, check out latest EP ‘Attention Seeker’.

F HOW HAVE FOUR BOYS FROM THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE ENDED UP CO-WRITING THEIR DEBUT SINGLE WITH PETE WENTZ? HARD WORK, OBVIOUSLY. WORDS: STEVEN LOFTIN.

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OR EIGHTEEN MONTHS OR SO, OVER IN PERTH, AUSTRALIA, FOUR MATES HAVE BEEN TOILING AWAY PULLING FIFTEEN-HOUR DAYS IN STUDIOS. Josh Raven, Stephen Beerkens, Michael Bono and Sean Tighe, who together make up The Faim, have been trying to ensure that whatever they bring into the world is the best it can be.

And it’s working out for them. While they only have one song out currently, ‘Saints & Sinners’, with the massive spotlight that’s been thrown on them, you could be forgiven for thinking they’re old hat at this. This one track isn’t just any song, either. It’s co-written with Pete Wentz after the band got in contact with pop-punk super-producer John Feldmann.

Speaking to singer Josh, who’s currently prepping for their Lower Than Atlantis support tour, he attributes all of this success to the band’s bloody good work ethic.

LUCIA

Glasgow’s Lucia isn’t content to stick to one lane. From the scuzzy ‘Melted Ice Cream’, to the cavernous ‘When I Think Of You’, via the grooves of ‘Saturday Is Dead’, variety truly is the spice of life.

“[It was] about a year and a half of solid grinding, just in the studio before we had any contact really with John - and we were taking things 100% seriously,” he explains. “Just locking ourselves in the studio, doing as much writing as we can, doing as much social media as we can - just constantly finding the next step forward.”

A perfect balance between new and old, The Faim are unashamed of their influences while looking toward the future. The fact that they’ve been a “studio band”, as Josh describes it, shows their focus is on the craft far more than just showing off.

“Everything’s always been pretty thought out,” he begins. “We’ve always had a pretty big game plan, but with our luck, things go wrong most of the time!

But we’re the type of people who love pressure.”

It’s a good job they do because coming out of nowhere and having their first officially released song co-written by a childhood hero is certainly a pressure-

cooker. On this new extreme level of attention, Josh is, as always, mighty cool and calm about it.

“We were mainly surprised, I guess.

The magnifying glass we have on us right now... But we’ve come to terms with the fact that things are going to grow and things are going to develop.

“The way we see it is, we will always keep true to who we are. We love what we do so much, so no matter the amount of pressure, or who’s watching, it’s always going to be the same sort of story for us.

We’re going to keep authentic.”

With only ‘Saints & Sinners’ out in the world and no future releases on the horizon, the only downside to working so meticulously is that once the ball is rolling, it’s kind of hard to keep up.

“It’s still open to discussion really about what’s going on,” Josh reveals.

“We’re stuck between, do we want to put everything out because our music is sonically so diverse, or do we want to put all that out at once through an album, or use an EP and kind of ease people

INTECHNICOLOUR

Brighton upstarts InTechnicolour are about to hit the road with mates Black Peaks. It’s a move that, on the back of new banger ‘Shaker’, could see them catch fire.

into it?

“We want to have diversity amongst our albums [and] our songs, but the biggest thing we want to do is keep fresh. Genres are becoming less and less confining, and being able to stay relevant is a really important part of us.”

One thing that’s definitely on the horizon is their UK dates with Lower Than Atlantis - their first ever tour. “It’s completely mental at the moment….”

Josh marvels. “This is like the teenage band kid’s dream; we’ve finally hit that moment. This is that pivotal point of becoming a touring band. It’s going to be a huge moment for us.”

All the hard work, and taking every opportunity, is born from the voice in the back of Josh’s head, which says to him, “‘Fuck it, I’m going to take what I want. I’m not going to let anyone else get in the way of that’.” He continues: “We dropped everything. We dropped our jobs; we dropped uni - all of our prior commitments.” And it’s about to pay off.

P THE FAIM ARE ON TOUR WITH LOWER THAN ATLANTIS RIGHT NOW.

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ORONTO-BASED FOUR-PIECE SELFISH THINGS ARE STRAIGHT OUT OF THE GATE WITH A REAL GEM OF AN EP, ‘VERTICAL LOVE’. IT SEES FRONTMAN ALEX BIRO TAKING CONTROL. Words: Sam Taylor

HOW DO YOUR LATER TRACKS COMPARE TO THAT EARLY MATERIAL? I think we began to find our sound. The earlier tracks were just songs I’d written without any real trajectory in mind. Once things started to develop a lot of what I/we hoped to accomplish musically became clearer.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR BAND, THEN. I play piano/guitar/sing. Burton plays bass.

Jordan plays the drums. Cam’s on rhythm guitar, and Mike’s on leads. I started the project in my basement in 2015 after parting ways with my old band.

WHAT’S BEEN THE HIGHLIGHT OF YOUR TIME IN SELFISH THINGS SO FAR? Touring with Simple Plan was a huge highlight. Having the opportunity to play with them in their hometown was definitely something I won’t forget.

Otherwise, getting to work with James Paul Wisner was incredible. He produced some of the seminal albums of our generation and to have his hands/insight on our project was a huge blessing.

WHAT WERE YOUR FIRST FEW SONGS LIKE? ARE ANY OF THEM STILL KICKING ABOUT? All of them are! The first song I wrote for the project was ‘Spooky Action At A Distance’. I used some songs I’d recorded in 2013 with Nygel Asselin (Half Moon Run) to pad our content while we got all of the right pieces together. Then we went straight into ‘Vertical Love’.

HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT CREATING YOUR DEBUT EP, ‘VERTICAL LOVE’?

We flew to Florida, lived in a swamp town and didn’t have access to anything that could quell our cabin fever. The water smelled like blood so every time you showered you didn’t really feel clean. I flew out as Hurricane Matthew was making landfall. Otherwise, we just plugged in and recorded.

HEY ALEX, HOW’S IT GOING? Currently driving through Iowa on our way to Wyoming. It’s freezing rain, and we’re white knuckling it, haha.

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WHERE DO YOU LOOK MOST OFTEN FOR INSPIRATION? IT SOUNDS LIKE THE EP IS PRETTY CONTEMPLATIVE. The human experience is inspiration enough. Our complexities are as unique as our failures. Our successes as important as the things that completely destroy us.

I think a lot of people write about things they want, or miss, or presume is theirs. I feel like most of the time when I write; I do it in an attempt to sort something out from an exterior perspective.

DO YOU THINK YOU’RE A BETTER OR HAPPIER PERSON FOR HAVING WORKED THROUGH A FEW PERSONAL ISSUES VIA THE EP? I think I’m a better and happier person because I took control of my life and came to the harsh realisation that everything bad and good that had happened to me was ultimately my own doing. You can’t control other people, or how they treat you. You can’t control the family you have.

You can’t control god, or the universe, or whatever deity you believe in. The only thing you can control is how you react to the things that come toward you. And the only choice you have is to either let life defeat you, or accept its innate tragedy and move forward. P SELFISH THINGS’ EP ‘VERTICAL LOVE’ IS OUT NOW.

F

UZZ-POP TRIO THE YADA YADA YADAS’ SECOND SINGLE ‘WOKE UP STRANGE’ IS ALL ANGULAR GUITARS AND LO-FI, HOOKFILLED VOCALS, SHOWING OFF THE BAND’S LOVE FOR THE LIKES OF DINOSAUR JR AND PAVEMENT. Words: Sam Taylor HEY MARK, HOW DID YOU LOT MEET AND DECIDE TO FORM A BAND? Me and Harley, the guitarist, have played in bands together for a while, and a little over a year ago we decided it was time to start something fresh. This is the first time I’ve ever fronted a band, I’ve always been sat behind the drums in the past, so in turn, I saw The Yada Yada Yadas as a chance to live out my own creative vision, and take control for once. There was a very clear Dinosaur Jr, Pavement, Weezer blueprint laid out from the very beginning.

We’d seen Liam playing bass with other bands in the past, so we decided to poach him, and Stephen the drummer responded to an online ad.

WHAT’S DURHAM LIKE FOR UPAND-COMING BANDS? There’s not a lot going on in Durham musically, but in the surrounding towns and cities like Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Stockton and Darlington there are some great nights. The Kids Are Solid Gold have been good to us, and they put on some fantastic shows in the North East.

We did a TKASG show a couple of weeks ago at The Georgian Theatre Stockton opening for The Xcerts. Little Buildings in Newcastle is a venue I absolutely love too, it’s basically a rehearsal room with a bar, but the atmosphere is always great.

WHAT’S BEEN THE HIGHLIGHT OF YOUR TIME IN THE YADA YADA YADAS SO FAR? Doing to ‘60 second CV’ for Steve Lamacq on Radio 6 Music after the release of [debut single] ‘Oceans’ was fantastic, it was a really big opportunity for us.

Stockton Calling was also a lot of fun last year, so it’s great to be returning again.

WE HEAR YOU HAVE A NEW EP COMING? We’re just figuring it out at the minute.

We’re currently releasing a steady stream of singles, and it’s difficult to commit

to a batch of songs to release together.

The tracks that are coming out right now I consider ‘old’ songs, just because the process of writing, recording, and then releasing takes so long. But hopefully, by the end of the year, we’ll have the EP out there, which I’m hoping can be a mixture of ‘old’ and ‘new’, but most importantly a definitive realisation of the band’s musical intentions.

HOW DO YOU APPROACH WRITING A NEW SONG? Most of the time it’s a bit of a jigsaw puzzle. I’ll start working on something I like and then begin to revisit old ideas that didn’t quite work out in the endless voice memos on my phone to fill in the gaps. But sometimes I sit down with the guitar and just play a new song all of a sudden out of nowhere.

Sometimes I like to play little games to get the creative juices flowing. For example, I’ll imagine that someone like Pavement are releasing a new single, and I’ll try and play this imaginary song. Other times I’ll flick through Spotify looking at song titles without listening to the music, and play what I think the song is going to sound like.

WHAT WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO ACHIEVE WITH THE BAND? I’d love to do all of the typical things everyone wants to do like play on the Pyramid Stage and live in a giant purple mansion, but in a realistic world, I just want to connect with an audience for the music the band is making. P THE YADA YADA YADA’S SINGLE ‘WOKE UP STRANGE’ IS OUT NOW. DISRUPT THE NOISE 25

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RELEASING THEIR FIRST ALBUM IN A DECADE, UNDEROATH HAVE RETURNED FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE. AND THEY’VE COME BACK… DIFFERENT. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER.

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N 26TH JANUARY 2013, UNDEROATH PLAYED THE FINAL SHOW OF A NINEDATE FAREWELL TOUR IN FLORIDA. And that was supposed to be it, the end of all things. Three years later though, they were back at the same venue for the first proper show of their reunion tour.

A lot more followed. And now, they’ve just released ‘Erase Me’. This is where it gets serious.

“Here we are,” starts Aaron Gillespie “It’s our first record in ten years, and there’s this real, palpable excitement.

It’s not just like, ‘Here’s an old band putting out some songs for fun’. Being on this end of it, it feels like this is our most important release. The way that people are responding to the songs and everything, it’s a cool time.”

Aaron formed the band in 1997 while still in high school, but it wasn’t until their fourth record, 2004’s ‘They’re Only Chasing Safety’ that things began to fall into place for Underoath. It was the first record to feature Spencer Chamberlain, Tim McTague, James Smith, Grant Brandell, Chris Dudley and Aaron working together. After a turbulent history, that line-up that would see them through the next six years.

It was also better than

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anything Underoath had put their name to so far. All conflict and chemistry, it was one of those instant classics. Its follow-up, 2006’s ‘Define The Great Line’ was another step forward, redefining the band and adjusting their course. Then it began to fall apart. Tours were cancelled, tensions mounted. Aaron walked away in 2010, and the rest of the band followed a few years later. Underoath’s reunion was never really about picking up where they left off. At that point, they were too far gone. By the end, they’d worn down

AARON GILLESPIE

their friendships and their love for the band. Rather than stepping back for a moment when the cracks first appeared, they tried to hold it together by doing more, pushing harder and soldiering on.

“We should have said no a shitload more than we did,” admits Aaron. “We got ourselves in trouble because we never stopped. We should have rested more. It messed us up. Now we just want to do the right stuff. We don’t want to play for the sake of playing; we want to make sure it makes sense.”

“When you’re a kid in a band, you play together because you all like the same stuff,” explains Spencer. “It’s tough when you leave your teens because you start becoming individuals and different people. That’s weird, and you don’t know how to handle it. As time goes on, you go in different directions. You miss how it used to be. It’s a hard place to grow up.”

But grow up they did. It wasn’t until someone revived their group chat with the reminder that ‘Define The Great Line’ was about to turn ten and maybe they should play a show, that Underoath returned.

“We started talking about more than a show, and we ended up booking a tour,” continues Spencer. “Grant suggested playing ‘Chasing Safety’ in full as well because we were too busy being mad at each other when that record turned ten.”

And after some hesitation (“that’s so many songs”), they decided to do it. The Rebirth tour, with the band playing both albums in full each night, was born.

“I didn’t want the band to break up in the first place,” says Spencer. “As much as I was probably the last one standing before the breakup, I was one of the last to agree to Rebirth. I thought it would be weird for me if they didn’t want to keep playing after that. What if everyone else just wanted to have normal lives and normal jobs? I didn’t want to take time out of my life to just feel robbed of what could be.”

During the first practice, the band were asking why they’d waited so long.

After the first show, they decided to take the tour around the world.

“We had no idea what it would be like. It could be really good or really bad,” explains Aaron. “In the smallest

way, we just wanted to have a good time, hang out together, be buddies again and play the songs that gave us the life we have now. It ended up being the biggest and best tour we’d ever done.

“I had this whole idea that every show would be full of these old guys, just out for a beer and listening to a band they liked in high school. I mean, those two records are at least ten years old. But every night Spencer would ask the question, ‘How many of you have never seen Underoath before?’

At least 70% of the crowd would raise their hand. I thought that was fucking impossible.

“I started realising a majority of these fans were younger. Their older brother was 18 and had given them the record when they were only ten and weren’t allowed to go see a concert, or they had to go to bed early ‘cos they had school or whatever. There was this influx of young folks, which was super interesting. I did not expect that. It’s been cool to see this younger generation of kids still really interested in our band. It’s given us this shot of life, which is flattering.”

That rejuvenation can be felt across ‘Erase Me’, but it’s not just because there’s a whole new generation listening.

“For a very long time, there was uncertainty around our friendship,” adds Aaron. “When you all grow up together, and you do the same things, you think that you have to believe the same things and have the same set of ideals. The reality is, you don’t. You can be your own person. For us, we really just needed to be honest with one another. With Rebirth, we’ve been able to do that. It’s a small adjective, but it does feel really good. We’re confident and in a good place.”

That feeling is mirrored by Spencer.

“We’re in a place where we’re finally healthy as a band, and we work together, which never really happened before.

Even at the very beginning, it was always a little weird. We were never really on the same page.

“After burning the thing on both ends until we had to walk away from it, we’ve come back to it as healthy human beings who have their lives more on track. So many things can go wrong when you’re in a bad place; there was so much pressure. After we broke up, it let us talk which helped us fix our relationships with each other and the things within ourselves that needed fixing.

“When we started to play, we didn’t know what would happen, but we took all that pressure away. Now that we are playing and writing together, I’ve seen the future of this band. It’s healthy and can go for as long as we feel we want to go for. We can do this for another fifteen

SPENCER CHAMBERLAIN years if we want because we know how to communicate, work together and we know how to actually get along, which is crazy.”

Despite the instant connection when they started playing together again, talk of new material wasn’t so quick.

Two weeks into the tour, Aaron was sure he wanted to keep doing Underoath; Spencer never wanted to stop. So the pair started writing music together, away from the rest of the band.

“It wasn’t in a deceitful way,” promises Spencer, “but those guys weren’t sure yet, and we weren’t going to sit around and wait for them to decide if they were going to give us the time to make a record. Aaron and I, we wanted to make music together. We’ve been best friends since we were teenagers and we were sick of making music away from each other.”

So committed was their bond, there was talk of just starting a new band if the rest of Underoath wanted to quit after Rebirth.

“If no one else wants to make a record, we should just do our own thing,” echoes Aaron. Everyone wanted to keep it rolling, though. “We realised it needed to be all of us.”

Tim and Chris started working on music as well, and things fell into place.

‘Erase Me’ is the first Underoath record where all six band members love every song. Every album before was littered with compromise.

“We fought our way through every record,” reflects Spencer. “It’s always been a full-on battle every time we recorded, until we made this album. We made this album as friends, adults and we worked together.”

There were no rules about a song ‘sounding Underoath enough’, either. “We needed to make a record that we love and feel, so that’s what we did,” explains Aaron. “If we’re all stoked on a song, if we feel really good about it, we’re excited about it, want to listen to it and want to play, let’s record it. We distanced ourselves from the pressure.

“It would be easy to look at ‘Chasing

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Safety’ or ‘Define The Great Line’ and say, ‘We need to have that kind of record’, but that would have been unhealthy for us. ‘Erase Me’ is different to what people would expect, but we weren’t even going to make a record in the first place. If we can’t make things that make us happy, then I don’t know what else to do. I don’t know what the point of all this is. We asked ‘What is Underoath now?’” explains Aaron. “And what Underoath is now, is whatever we say it is.”

U

NDEROATH’S GLOBETROTTING, FOURTEENMONTH LONG REBIRTH TOUR WAS ABOUT GIVING THE FANS WHAT THEY WANTED. “We have to play for people,” offers Spencer. “All the people that didn’t get to see us on the farewell tour.” ‘Erase Me’ has a different mentality.

“This is the best version of Underoath,” he states. “Is it going to be

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your favourite version of Underoath? I don’t think we really care. If you loved ‘Chasing Safety’ or ‘Define The Great Line’ when they came out, you probably don’t listen to that stuff anymore. All those people have grown, so why is it so quote-unquote disrespectful to our fans if we’ve grown as well? If you can move forward and broaden your horizons, why can’t a band? We’re not 18-year-old kids anymore, we’re going to do what makes us happy, and I think people will be able to hear that.”

Regardless, Spencer still hopes the lyrics resonate. “Music for me has always made me feel like I’m not alone. Bands I’ve really connected with, they make you feel like you’re not the only person going through that. If I can supply that to anyone on the planet, for me, that’s a successful record. If one person connects and feels, ‘Thank God someone else feels the way I do’, then I did my job. I’m just trying to give back what I got from

music.”

“You can’t anticipate if people will like it or not, or if it will make you more or less successful,” he adds. “You just have to do what feels right to you. We’re going to write stuff that we fucking love, because we can. None of us were listening to what we were listening to in 2006, when we made the record in 2017.

“We’ve grown so much, we’ve all done individual music projects, so when we got back together it was a natural thing to do something different. It was never talked about. The only thing that was talked about was, ‘Let’s just do what makes us happy, let’s not go back in time and try and pretend. Let’s grow, let’s make a great record, let’s make something we want to listen to’.

“Will we piss people off? Fuck yeah, we will, but we always have. Every record we’ve ever made has made people mad.

That’s the part of art that I think is important. People don’t do those things

do it, then let’s make something that makes us happy. If it’s either me happy or someone else, I’m going to choose myself.” Spencer grins. “Artists are selfish in that way.”

T SPENCER CHAMBERLAIN on purpose, but they happen when you’re true to yourself. That’s natural. That’s what art is.

“We walked away from this band with the intention of never playing again, so coming back to it was way more liberating. If we’re going to get back together and those dudes that have two or three kids quit their fucking jobs to

HE BAND ARE IN THE BEST PLACE THEY’VE EVER BEEN. They’re closer as friends, more connected as a band and more willing to give each other space. There’s a real excitement around ‘Erase Me’ and what Underoath can do in 2018, and there’s more freedom for them to do it.

In short, they’re happy to be back, but ‘Erase Me’ isn’t a happy record, despite what it means to people. There’s anger throughout. It’s hurt, lost and it doesn’t know what to believe in anymore.

“It’s the time I was going through,” starts Spencer. “I called it my breakup record with drugs, and Aaron went through a divorce. A lot of us are in different spaces to where we were when

this band started, spiritually.”

Once upon a time, they identified as a Christian band, but beliefs changed in private and now, “there’s no more faking it,” says Spencer. “We’re not pretending to be a Christian band. I don’t think there’s one guy in the band that considers themselves Christian anymore. We’d got to the point where we’d had enough.

There was so much bullshit in our lives that we had to leave behind. Writing about it, singing about it, making songs about it was the best way to do that.”

“Getting older, you grow up, and you become unafraid of asking questions,” adds Aaron. “A lot of people feel like they have to believe something and they’re afraid to ask the questions and say, ‘Maybe I don’t believe this anymore’.

For us, as we’ve gotten older, we’ve been able to be more ballsy with asking those questions and saying, ‘I don’t get it. I don’t understand it’. It’s been a new thing for us in our music to do the same.

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It comes from having the balls to be honest.”

“When I started writing this record, I was still trying to get my shit together,” continues Spencer. “I was trying to get myself back on track. For a long, long period of my life, I was a drug user.

Half-way through writing this thing, I decided I was never going to go back to my old ways. There was a lot of different emotions attached to the last few years of my life, battling those demons and it’s all in there. The anger, the anger within yourself, the anger towards others, feeling alone, depression, addiction - all that stuff. I needed to sing about it.

“It was incredible to track the record for the first time completely clean. Being able to record these songs and these things that I had written down, there was this feeling of, ‘Wow I can’t believe that’s how I felt not too long ago. I never want to go back there’. It was a very therapeutic experience and something I needed to do.”

That anger is often turned inwards, though. It’s a record of changes forced upon you, and changes you can make.

“If you can’t look at yourself and make changes, maybe you’re not ready yet to change,” Spencer muses. “You’re in a tough spot. I’m not saying to hate on yourself, but being able to criticise yourself the same way you’d criticise friends is important. You need to be able to check yourself.”

‘Erase Me’ is a progressive conversation, a constant back and forth. Opening with ‘It Has to Start Somewhere’, the band insist, “You’ve got me wrong,” before asking “How did we end up like this? I’ve lost myself. Dear God, give me a chance.”

The title ‘Erase Me’ comes from ‘ihateit’, one of the album’s poppier moments that sees the band pleading to an uncertain God and trying to regain control of their vices. “It’s that thing where you just want a clean slate. You just want to start over. We all get to that breaking point in our lives,” reasons Spencer.

“It’s about deconstruction, it’s about hope in a dirty way and figuring that out for yourself,” adds Aaron.

‘Bloodlust’ was written in the studio and is “about what we do out here,” he continues. “You leave your family, and you do this job, and it just keeps on going, it becomes something you get hungry for.”

The closing argument of ‘I Gave Up’ stands tall with the belief that people are never going to understand you completely. “They’re never going to get the shit you’re going through, but you tried,” explains Aaron. “It’s not something morbid like I give up on life, it means 32 UPSETMAGAZINE.COM

T SPENCER CHAMBERLAIN I’m going to stop trying to explain myself. I’m going to stop trying to be understood, because every time I’m understood, I feel misunderstood.”

The most amazing thing about ‘Erase Me’ is that it happened at all. “I didn’t think it was ever a possibility for us to make a record again,” Aaron explains.

“Even when we started Rebirth, that seemed like the furthest thing possible in my mind. Up until we got into the studio, I wasn’t sure it would even happen. I’m ecstatic it did, though.”

See, Aaron has unfinished business with Underoath. “I quit, and it was premature on my part. We never said no to anything, so I was just burnt out. I needed closure.”

Even now, asking why Underoath connected all those years ago, or why they’re still forging connections today is met with a pause, and an “I don’t know”.

“That was a stupid ass answer,” Aaron laughs. “I’m thankful for it every day, and I’m honoured by it every day. At the time a lot of our peers were better; they had just as much to say as we did. We’ve always just been genuine, and people gravitate towards that. I’m so thankful we’re not the band that had a couple of radio hits and were a flash in the pan.

With Underoath, when people liked Underoath, they got a tattoo of it. They made it a part of their life, which has been a huge honour for us.”

They still feel like they have something to prove. It’s there in the weight they put on two of their earlier records, it can be felt in the urgent new paths they tread on ‘Erase Me’, and it’s there in the belief they have in this band, and in each other.

“We’re always trying to outdo ourselves and prove we’re a band and not a moment in time,” starts Spencer.

“A lot of bands from our time and genre have been pinned as throwback or ‘Emo Nite’ bands. That’s such a huge thing right now, and we don’t feel that way about ourselves. We’re still Underoath; a band that’s unpredictable.”

HERE’S STILL AN AMBITION TO UNDEROATH. From their first support slot in ages with Bring Me The Horizon on their American Nightmare tour, to playing festivals and embracing new sounds, there’s a desire play outside their lane and see what could happen.

“I believe you should never limit yourself,” Spencer explains. “Put your best foot forward in every record you make and not go back in time and redo something. We’d never let our legacy dictate anything we do, that’s where you fuck up. I could be wrong,” he admits.

“Making the same record over and over again, kids think they want that but if you hear a song or record that doesn’t leave you with questions, what’s the point? When you release something that’s super safe, and everyone’s happy, then you didn’t do anything. You wasted your time. It’s not about making people upset, but I want to be challenged.

“We really took a turn when we did ‘Define The Great Line’. ‘Chasing Safety’ was a turn for the very few people that listened to the band before that. Heads exploded when we released the first song from that record. Everyone was mad. ‘Define The Great Line’, everyone was mad. The list goes on.

“Underoath has always been a band to shock or surprise people. Every time we’ve done that, it’s never been a conscious decision. We did know we didn’t want to be nostalgic though. I think nostalgia is such a bullshit word for bands that have only been around as long as us. I do understand a period of time where people fell in love with the music, but there are a lot of bands that have been around a lot longer than us that you don’t consider nostalgia acts. We were never going to recreate something that we made ten years ago; it wouldn’t be true to ourselves.

The one thing that hasn’t changed about Underoath is that Underoath doesn’t do things that don’t make us happy. When things weren’t going well, and we weren’t all getting along, we parted ways with Aaron. When the rest of us weren’t getting along, we walked away from the band. Underoath has always been the band that’s been trying to find ways to do things that make us happy.

“Going back in time and pretending it’s 2006 is not going to be the answer for us. We’ve made something we’re proud of, and we actually worked together on. You’re never going to make everyone happy, so why don’t you start with making yourselves happy?” P UNDEROATH’S ALBUM ‘ERASE ME’ IS OUT NOW.

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BACK WITH SPEEDY ORTIZ, SADIE DUPUIS IS READY TO TAKE ON THE BIGOTS. Words: Linsey Teggert

“W

HEN I STARTED THIS PROJECT I WAS 22, I’D HAD A ROUGH YEAR AND WAS WRITING MY WAY THROUGH A LOT OF MENTAL ANGUISH. NOW I TRY TO WRITE LESS INTERNALLY AND MORE ABOUT THE THINGS MY FRIENDS ARE WORRYING ABOUT EVERY DAY, WHICH IS TO SAY, THE WIDER WORLD. I STILL WRITE SONGS FOR THE SAME REASON, WHICH IS I HAVE AN EXTREME FEELING I NEED TO WORK THROUGH, JUST NOW IT’S NOT ABOUT BREAK-UPS, IT’S ABOUT BIGOTRY.” Self-proclaimed Speedy Ortiz ‘frontdemon’ Sadie Dupuis is discussing her shift in attitude towards songwriting.

It’s the main reason the band’s third record, ‘Twerp Verse’ was scrapped and rewritten after their original recording sessions. The ‘Twerp Verse’ the public is about to hear is not the original album Speedy Ortiz had intended to release.

“In the Autumn of 2016 we spent around a week recording, but it wasn’t the album we wanted to release. We kept a couple of songs that still felt meaningful to me, but I spent the next few months writing a bunch of new songs. It wasn’t for lack of love that we scrapped the other songs, we really like them all, but we were thinking about what we wanted to do with this record and what was meaningful to talk about right now, and some of those songs didn’t feel right for the album.

“I’ve mentioned that those songs were ‘too lovey-dovey’, but I meant that they were too wrapped up in my interpersonal life. Some of them were quite old, too.

We were recording one that I’d written in 2006, there was one that was very

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SADIE DUPUIS much an ‘angry break-up song’, and I just don’t really care about that kind of music anymore. So while I think the songs are fine, they weren’t what I wanted on this record, and that’s what a B-side is for.”

While the resulting ‘Twerp Verse’ is certainly shaped by social politics, don’t expect to hear songs overtly ranting about political injustices. The issues are there in the lyrics, but as with the rest of Speedy Ortiz’s back catalogue, you have to dig a little deeper to find them. A former teacher with a Masters in poetry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Sadie’s lyrics are often riddle-like, surreal and metaphorical with a good dose of twisted humour.

“Social politics have always had some part in shaping the lyrics in Speedy Ortiz because they shape my worldview, but I’ve always approached writing for this project in an oblique way. There are some moments on this record that are a bit more direct, but the lyrics are still very much about quotidian relationships, the people I see and think about every day. I’m not writing a song that’s directly about Trump, more about the ways in which I want the people in my community to do better and take better care of each other, things like that.”

DISRUPT THE NOISE 35

‘Lucky 88’, the first single to be released from ‘Twerp Verse’ is the perfect example of one of those songs that deals with grassroots politics. On the surface, as Sadie coos “I don’t care anymore”, there seems to be a sense of apathy, but it’s more passive-aggressive, imploring the youth to do more to bring about change.

“I wrote that song at the Cy Twombly museum, he’s one of my favourite artists, and he has a series of paintings called ‘Untitled 1988’. I was there on Christmas Eve feeling quite disenchanted, but also feeling psyched about all the young activists I know. I was thinking about 1988 which is my birth year, and thinking about the ways in which the world is horrifying but how young activists are doing a lot of work to try and make things better. A Lucky 88 is a kind of slot machine, so it’s about having optimism that young activists can do better for the world.”

‘Lucky 88’ is also the poppiest track on ‘Twerp Verse’, an exhilarating pop banger that is all fizzing synths and skittering percussion. Though the album is still very much a Speedy Ortiz record - wonderfully off-kilter, grungy alt-rock – it employs more pop sensibilities than their previous offerings. Those sparkling 36 UPSETMAGAZINE.COM

synths creep into other tracks, perhaps influenced by Sadie’s electro-pop tinged 2016 solo record ‘Slugger’ under the moniker Sad13.

“I’m only half joking when I say we wrote ‘Lucky 88’ to be on the Riverdale soundtrack. I really like that show and had been listening to the soundtrack, and I like artists like Banks and Lorde, and I was thinking about those musicians when working on that song, but I don’t think it’s representative of the whole record. We’re thinking pop on a lot of it, especially because there’s a recurrence of synths, but a lot more of the references are from the 70s and 80s - Squeeze, Blondie and Prince. I wanted ‘Twerp Verse’ to have a fun sound as I do think some of its themes are a bit bleak.”

The poppier, more expansive and explorative sound also comes naturally from the fact Speedy Ortiz have now been a band for almost seven years and are no longer restricted by a lack of resources. “When we recorded our first record ‘Major Arcana’ we’d just been playing basement shows, and we didn’t have any money. We put together everything we’d saved for two years to record for four days. Now we have more time and can afford more than four days in the studio we can fully see out the

SADIE DUPUIS songs with the arrangements that were in my head when I first conceived them, which also means we can explore other genres.

“We got saddled with the whole ‘90s indie rock’ thing on the first record as if that was the only thing we’d ever wanted to do. Don’t get me wrong, I love that record, but everything we do we’re trying to do as honestly as we can. If we explore poppier sounds on this record that’s because it’s what we’re liking right now, if the next record is really heavy, that will be because it’s what we’re hearing in our heads. We don’t have to be tied down to one kind of sound.”

Re-recording and shaking up their approach to songwriting weren’t the only upheavals Speedy Ortiz were going through around the time of creating their third full-length. Guitarist Devin McKnight left the band to focus on his new project Maneka, though the departure was on completely good terms.

Devin doesn’t actually appear on ‘Twerp Verse’, and Andy Molholt of psych-pop outfit Laser Background now joins Sadie alongside fellow Speedy veterans Darl Ferm on bass and Mike Falcone on drums.

“Devin’s one of my best friends, and I feel really lucky that he played in Speedy for as long as he did, mostly because he’s such a genius writer it was unfair for him to be in a band where he didn’t get to write music. He’s so smart and talented that I’m so happy Maneka exists in the world right now. Andy is such a positive person that it’s really fun to play music with him as he’s down to try anything.”

2016 was a hell of a busy year for Sadie, and not just because of the changes surrounding Speedy Ortiz. It saw the release of her superb debut solo record, the aforementioned ‘Slugger’, a serenely self-assured album that afforded her to be more direct when it came to her lyric writing, addressing the issues faced by women while still being

an irresistible listen.

“There’s a huge difference in the dynamic between Sad13 and Speedy.

With Sad13 it was just me turning my home demos into a finished product, whereas with Speedy I have collaborators that I trust and who I can bounce ideas off. With Sad13 if I’m stuck in a certain area, I only have myself to rely on. The guys were all working on different things at the same time and were super supportive, and I got to play with an all-female band. It was a great opportunity to work with musicians I admired but hadn’t had the chance to be in a band with because of the nature of Speedy. I’m hoping to write another Sad13 record at some point this year as it was just so much fun.”

It seems somewhat cliched and almost lazy to ask the ‘being a woman in the music scene’ question, especially given Sadie has been leading Speedy Ortiz like an absolute boss for many years now. Yet on their previous record, 2015’s ‘Foil Deer’, it seemed Sadie had more of a defiant statement of intent to make with lyrics like “I’m not bossy I’m the boss, shooter, not the shot” on ‘Raising the Skate’, basically saying “I’m here and you better deal with it.” There’s not so much of this on ‘Twerp Verse’, so

does this mean Sadie feels there’s been a positive shift in attitude?

“Either men just don’t act condescending towards me anymore, or I have such a filter for it now that I don’t notice it or forget it immediately.

There’s so much positive stuff going on, for instance at SXSW this year all the exciting new artists I wanted to see were bands mostly comprised of women. There were women mixing sound, promoters or stage managers who were women, and I got to talk to a number of gear companies who were trying to reach out and feature women in their sponsorships.

“I meet men at our shows who tell me they’ve learned things from following our career, and that’s as exciting to me as anything. It’s important that everyone across the entire gender spectrum is working towards inclusivity.

“I suppose in the same way, although my main objective for being in this band is still the same, the main difference is now we have a wider responsibility with regards to who we hire, who we take on tour with us, who we agree to work with or even who we allow to advertise or write about us. We try to be conscientious about making those choices.” P SPEEDY ORTIZ’S ALBUM ‘TWERP VERSE’ IS OUT 27TH APRIL. DISRUPT THE NOISE 37

AUSTRALIAN METAL BAND PARKWAY DRIVE HAVE REACHED A MILESTONE: THEIR SIXTH ALBUM - AND WITH THE BAND HAVING DIVED TO NEW EMOTIONAL DEPTHS, IT’S EASILY ONE OF THEIR BEST. Words:`Brad Thorne

“I

T’S ABOUT HAVING REVERENCE FOR WHAT YOU HAVE BECAUSE IT’S SO FUCKING FRAIL AND WE DON’T REALISE HOW QUICKLY OUR LIVES CAN BE CHANGED, OR GONE,” SAYS WINSTON MCCALL, LEAD VOCALIST OF AUSTRALIAN METAL OUTFIT PARKWAY DRIVE. He’s discussing the title of their upcoming album, ‘Reverence’. It’s their sixth full-

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length release, and undoubtedly the most personal material they’ve ever put to tape. “Every record is a snapshot of our lives, and it’s been two years of dealing with a lot of shit.”

The album follows 2015’s ‘Ire’, a record that saw the band embracing new soundscapes in an effort not to repeat their past glories. “It was make or break, in the sense that if there’s a time to change it’s now and if it fucks up we won’t be doing any more,” admits Winston of the more traditionally minded, but no less heavy, verse-chorus sound they found themselves adopting.

By the time 2012’s ‘Atlas’ arrived Parkway Drive had become figureheads of metallic hardcore and established a solid setlist of the genre’s biggest tunes, but fans were beginning to notice a pattern emerging. “We’re not going to remake something that we did perfectly the first time,” adds Winston. “The real

break moment would have been if we hadn’t done ‘Ire’, that’s where the band would have started back-sliding.”

Thankfully the bold, grandiose new direction taken on ‘Ire’ paid off in spades, seeing the band ascend to bigger stages across the globe. “It went from a couple hundred more people turning up after each album to just thousands more after ‘Ire’, it was mental shit,” even now almost three years on from its release there is an air of disbelief in Winston’s voice when he explains their career trajectory.

In quintessentially Aussie style he continues: “If someone came to me now and said, ‘One day you’re going to write this album that has all this weird shit on it, and you’ll headline a stage at this festival called Download’ I’d say, ‘Who the fuck let this tripper in the room?!’”

For all the band’s success, things were taking a turn for the worst in their personal lives. “We were playing the

best shows we’ve ever had; the record’s going far better than we could’ve hoped. But at the same time we have friends and family being diagnosed with incurable diseases, and then we’re going on tour, coming home, and they’re not there anymore. It was fucking horrendous.”

It’s during this trying time that Parkway Drive began the writing process for what would become their most heartfelt and ambitious record to date. “It’s a dark record, written in what’s probably the darkest period of our lives. I was writing words as they came to me and I knew that they couldn’t be screamed, it wouldn’t make sense, and the music was going to have to go around that. That’s where everything went off in a very different direction.”

A very different direction is exactly what ‘Reverence’ is for Parkway Drive, with Winston embracing clean vocals for this first time ever and everything from synths to strings being incorporated.

“This time we thought if we can do ‘Ire’ we can do anything. We focused on the idea that there was nothing sound-wise that was off limits.”

“I can safely say that I can sing,” muses Winston. “It’s given me an amazing way to express myself, which I’ve been looking for for a really long time. I just

WINSTON MCCALL assumed that a decade of screaming had fucked my vocal chords.”

Despite the darkness that birthed it, ‘Reverence’ isn’t all sonic doom and gloom. Songs like ‘Prey’ and recently released single ‘The Void’ are what Winston terms “anti-anthems”. Although they’re as upbeat, chant-able and mosh-inducing as Parkway’s usual fare, they’re steeped in sarcasm and cynicism.

“It’s not about singing along because you can beat the world, it’s just about acknowledging that the world is shit right now and we’re all fucking stuck on it,” he explains. “They’re like ‘Vice Grip’’s villainous brother.”

As they gear up for the album’s release, it’s clear that Parkway Drive will never be the same again. Life will

continue to shape them as people, and their music will always reflect that.

“When we started this band the modus operandi was to write fast parts for circle pits; we were just kids playing to thirty other kids in a youth centre. But when you take those kids and drag them around the planet for fifteen years that translates into the music.”

“You’ll never hear another Parkway record that sounds predictable.

Predictable means it’s been done before, and time’s too short to keep running on a treadmill.”

‘Reverence’ is the product of a perspective that can only be gained through fifteen years of traversing the globe and experiencing all the ups and downs life has to offer. It embodies everything the band have learnt during the darkest time of their lives. “Life’s too short to worry” is the message he wants listeners to take away.

“We always worry about volcanoes, or tidal waves, or terrorism when it can be as simple as slipping over in the bathtub or having someone be diagnosed with something you can’t cure. Take the time to realise that every little thing you have is precious and cherish the fact that you still have it.” P PARKWAY DRIVE’S ALBUM ‘REVERENCE’ IS OUT 4TH MAY. DISRUPT THE NOISE 39

DO GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT? JUDGING BY A PERFECT CIRCLE’S NEW ALBUM ‘EAT THE ELEPHANT’, THEIR FIRST IN 14 YEARS, THE ANSWER SEEMS TO BE A RESOUNDING YES. Words:`Chris Cope

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A

LOT OF THINGS HAPPENED IN 2004. FACEBOOK LAUNCHED WITH LITTLE FANFARE, GEORGE W BUSH WAS RE-ELECTED AS US PRESIDENT FOR A SECOND TERM, FRIENDS CAME TO ITS TEARFUL FINALE, AND A PERFECT CIRCLE RELEASED THEIR LAST STUDIO ALBUM. It’s fair to say the band’s fourth record ‘Eat The Elephant’ has been a long time coming. A very long time. Sure, the US alt-rockers played some live shows in the midst of their lengthy hiatus, but fans have been left hankering, almost despondently, for new material for years.

The record doesn’t crack under the weight of expectation, with its 12 tracks building on A Perfect Circle’s engrossing, artful sound, which can be oddly uplifting despite frequently indulging in the melancholy.

“We’ve never really left, but we’ve just not been active as far as full-length albums,” says singer Maynard James Keenan down the phone from his London hotel in a typically considered tone. “But yeah, it feels good to back.”

A Perfect Circle - who also feature founding member Billy Howerdel, Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, bassist Matt McJunkins and drummer Jeff Friedl - returned with aplomb in November last year with the lead track ‘The Doomed’, a cutting, crunchy slice of alt-rock.

“Behold a new Christ, behold the same old horde,” sings Keenan. “Gather at the altering, new beginning, new word.” You know the Tool vocalist is dipping into metaphor, but it felt like a statement of intent from a group which was returning in style.

A Perfect Circle formed back in 1999, releasing debut record ‘Mer de Noms’ a year later before unleashing ‘Thirteenth Step’ in 2003, which peaked at No.2 on the US chart.

Their last album ‘Emotive’, largely a collection of anti-war cover songs, followed a year later - but fans have been waiting patiently ever since.

“I think in general the [new] album is written from where we are today,” Keenan says. “What our thoughts and feelings are today, and how we’re resolving issues - current and past relationships. Maybe just a broader stroke of how we treat each other. It’s just a wake-up call I guess a little bit in some respects.”

The striking, visceral cover artwork for ‘Eat The Elephant’ sees the ghoulishly face-painted Keenan and Howerdel both holding a red and blue octopus and fans have been fervently speculating about its meaning.

“It’s a piece of the puzzle,” the singer

MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN says enigmatically. Is the blue and red a reference to the Democrat vs Republican political divide in the US which intensified in 2016 as Donald Trump gazumped the left to become president?

“That’s an interesting take,” he replies, but, of course, he declines to elaborate any further.

Keenan seems to like the mystery. A cerebral deep-thinker noted for his lyrical prowess; you get the feeling that he has probably enjoyed keeping A Perfect Circle fans guessing for over a decade. One of his other bands, cult prog metal heroes Tool, are similarly renowned for lurking in the shadows, giving little away.

He won’t answer any questions about Tool on the ‘Eat The Elephant’ promotional cycle, despite rampant speculation over their highly anticipated new album - their first since 2006 swirling around online.

His musical projects are always progressing, despite the years spent dormant, and his other venture - the near solo endeavour Puscifer - doesn’t do things by the rulebook either.

“Pretty much from the beginning I’ve done my best to see how far I could push myself,” Keenan says.

So how have A Perfect Circle progressed on the new album? “We’re older, so we’re going to hear things differently, we’re going to express things differently,” he replies. “So if we’re expressing where we are, rather than where we were, that’s probably a good evolution.”

The group’s expansive sound has been attracting the progressive rock tag, with the group set to headline the Be Prog My Friend festival in Barcelona this summer.

Keenan, though, isn’t quite so sure how to pigeonhole the group.

“We’ve headlined a country festival, and a hippie festival, and a metal festival,” he says. “We’re basically just playing music in front of people.”

‘Eat The Elephant’ saw A Perfect Circle team up with an outside producer for the first time, with Dave Sardy - who has previously worked with acts including Incubus, Catfish and The Bottlemen, Brand New and Fall Out Boy - enlisted to keep things ticking over.

Not worried about losing any control, the band used Sardy to help coordinate

a recording process which spanned more than one studio.

“I just felt like it was a wise move since we had limited time, so I wanted to make sure that we had basically two studios going the whole time - Dave working with Billy and me working with Mat Mitchell, my partner in Puscifer,” Keenan explains.

“Just listening to his previous work, Dave has a keen sense of being able to get to the core of what the song is, eliminating things. You go down that rabbit hole where you start adding pieces and pieces, and you start losing track of what the essence of the song is.”

When you look at Keenan’s projects outside of music, you can begin of see why spending time writing and releasing new albums hasn’t always been on the agenda.

He runs the successful winery Caduceus Cellars in Arizona, which makes a range of well-crafted wines. A far cry from your acidic, cheap and cheerful £4 efforts from Tesco, a special signed bottle of a 2015 red would set you back $500.

“I lived in orchids and gardens as a kid, so it’s kind of return to it I guess,” Keenan says. “It definitely requires a lot of focus during harvest, and a little less focus during the rest of the year.”

Last year the singer also released his first authorised biography, A Perfect Union of Contrary Things. The book, written

by Sarah Jensen, chronicles Keenan’s upbringing to the time he spent in the army and beyond.

It offers a rare glimpse into the life of a musician who seems to value the mystery that celebrities used to enjoy before being encouraged to share their lives on social media.

“It was my idea,” Keenan says. “I worked with the author - I grew up with her brother. We told the pieces of the story we felt comfortable telling. I started working on it just before I turned 50. That’s the kind of things you think about when you’re turning 50.”

Keenan has plenty to look forward to in 2018. A Perfect Circle will tour ‘Eat The Elephant’ across the world, with UK dates in June selling out quickly. Tool, meanwhile, awoke from their seemingly never-ending slumber in March to confirm to foaming-at-the-mouth fans that they are, indeed, back in the studio working on new material.

He is on a constant cycle of evolution, a quest to break new ground. Have A Perfect Circle done just that on ‘Eat The Elephant’, over a decade since their last record?

“I would hope so,” Keenan says. “That’s always the goal. If we fall short, try again next time.” Just don’t leave it another 14 years, guys. P A PERFECT CIRCLE’S ALBUM ‘EAT THE ELEPHANT’ IS OUT 20TH APRIL.

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Y

EARS AGO, WHEN NOTHING, NOWHERE WAS FIRST STARTING OUT, JOE MULHERIN WAS TOLD HE WAS “GOING TO BE THROWN INTO THE FIRE. THE REWARD, IF I MAKE IT OUT OF THAT, IS THAT I GET TO BE THROWN INTO A BIGGER FIRE. AND IT’S TRUE.” Since releasing his first few songs on SoundCloud in 2015, it’s been a test of courage for Joe. His first gig, a showcase in Brooklyn, New York, saw him white as a ghost and shaking. “That was the scariest moment of my career so far,” he says.

Since then he’s toured with Fall Out Boy, Thrice and Good Charlotte. It hasn’t gotten any easier, going onstage every night and introducing yourself to vast numbers of strangers.

“It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever done.

Period. I grew up with social anxiety, I still have social anxiety and playing those shows, it’s immersion therapy to the tenth degree. I’ve grown so much as a person since starting Nothing, Nowhere because I truly have to face my fears every single night when I get onstage and I have to stand in front of people and share these very intimate and internal emotions.

“It’s terrifying, but in the long run, it’s helping me. I say that it makes me a better person, but it is hard. I have days where it’s really hard to manage, but I think it’s worth my discomfort because I know it’s helping people.

“Thankfully on tour, one of the amazing things about it is that I can meet with people, I have these conversations with people who listen to my music every single night. I make it a point to be very honest and visceral through my music, I try and keep it unfiltered and what I’m hearing is that people appreciate that. If you’re struggling with anxiety, depression or any internal issues, it’s my hope that my music is an outlet for people to realise they’re not alone in their struggles. I think that’s what’s happening here; a nice little community has formed.”

Uninspiringly Nothing, Nowhere has frequently been labelled emo-hip-hop, but it’s far more nuanced than that. This isn’t throwing two worlds together and hoping you can dance above the impact.

“I’ve done everything under the sun it seems. When I first started doing music, I was 12 years old. I was just doing acoustic covers and posting them on YouTube. As I grew up, I was in various bands heavily influenced by emo and post-hardcore.

Early on I got into rap music as well; I got into MF Doom, A Tribe Called Quest, I started listening to Cam’ron and Dipset.

Over the years I’ve had so many projects, so many solo things, I was all over the place.

“Then in 2015, I decided to combine all my influences into Nothing, Nowhere.

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I think it’s important to pay homage to what I grew up listening to, and I grew up listening to alternative rock and emo. I grew up on Fall Out Boy, Good Charlotte, American Football, Taking Back Sunday, Thursday, and although I don’t think I make emo music, the influence is undeniable.”

And while Joe’s already done so much with this project, there’s the yellow brick promise of so much more to come. It “does and doesn’t” feel like it’s happened fast, he starts. “What people don’t see is a decade of me failing over and over with projects,” he continues before pausing. “I wouldn’t even say it was a failure because I learnt so much. I was making music for so long, and I wasn’t hearing any feedback because no one was really listening, so in 2015 when I started NN and people started reacting. It was an unbelievable thing to see, and it still is.”

His latest adventure is ‘Ruiner’, eleven tracks of frank admission, scratched pain, stain-glass hope and the belief that change is coming. While previous full-length ‘Reaper’ was fixated on death, the only time ‘Ruiner’ mentions it is in passing as it smiles at the people from his past who probably want him dead as Joe swings the ‘Hammer’.

“Maybe we can look at this as the rebirth,” he smiles. “If ‘Reaper’ was the death, ‘Ruiner’ is the rebirth. It’s about looking forward, it’s about realising where you came from but how do you move forward from that?” he asks. “In every way possible, my life has changed in the past year with everything going on, and I wanted to counteract that feeling and just go back to the basics. ‘Ruiner’ is about the change I’m dealing with, and how to cope when things get flipped upside down.”

‘Ruiner’ is a fiercely united record.

The different shapes all pulling in the same direction as Joe paints a cohesive picture throughout. “The only thing I knew I wanted to do was be as authentic as I could be. I just wanted to put out whatever was in my brain. It really is surprising to me that people don’t care if I switch my sound every other song, because my music is just a catharsis to me, and I’m just expressing how I feel in that moment.

“With ‘Reaper’ I worked in a real studio, and it was a very awesome experience, but I was out if my element. I was taken away from the basement. ‘Ruiner’ is about going back to the basics and remembering why I started Nothing, Nowhere, which was to be unfiltered, to do exactly what I wanted to do without expectations. I think people will realise when they hear ‘Ruiner’ that it’s a melting pot of all my influences.”

He’s still establishing himself, but already, Joe is changing what Nothing, Nowhere is, be it the shift away from the Grim Reaper or pushing back against what’s come before. He’s trying to outrun expectations before they’ve had time to

JOE MULHERIN crystallise.

“People are going to enjoy what they’re going to enjoy. Some people might like my older stuff, some people might like my newer stuff, but I want to keep moving, so people cant put a label on me. I never want to be stagnant. I never want to write a song that I could have made a year ago.”

In that jigsaw of influence and impact, loneliness can be felt at every turn of ‘Ruiner’. “I think being lonely, that’s something everyone deals with at some point in their lives. I spent a large amount of time alone. Sometimes that’s by my own choice; sometimes it’s others. Sometimes it’s hard for me to be around other people.

It’s hard for me to relate to others. It’s hard for me to interact with people and I’m dealing with it, but I spend a lot of time alone. I wanted to take a snapshot and share a portrait of what that feels like because I know a lot of people feel the same way.”

On paper, it sounds downbeat, but ‘Ruiner’ finds space to shimmer in the light, from the laughter at the close of ‘Reminiscer’ or the immense pride of ‘Hammer’. This isn’t a hopeless record.

“No it’s not, because I know no matter how bad it gets, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. I want kids to know that, because it’s never the end. Even though I’m honest in my lyrics, I know that every morning when I wake up, it’s a new opportunity to be happy.”

“Sometimes I feel the pressure,” he admits. “It’s hard to put your art out there for people to poke, prod and inspect but I’ll meditate on it and realise that at the end of the day if I’m being honest and putting out art, that’s all that matters.

People can say what they want to say, but I just need to realise that it’s not that serious, y’know?”

There is and isn’t an ambition behind Nothing, Nowhere. “I’ve already surpassed my expectations, but I want to reach more people. But the only reasons I only want to reach more people is because I want to help more people. Whatever happens, happens. I’m just happy people are connecting to the things that I make, and I think it’s helping people. I couldn’t ask for more. You’ve just got to take a deep breath and keep moving forward.” P NOTHING, NOWHERE’S ALBUM ‘RUINER’ IS OUT NOW.

HAVING THE SPOTLIGHT SUDDENLY FIND YOU MIGHT BE EVERY MUSICIAN’S DREAM, BUT IT’S PRETTY DARN TERRIFYING. THANKFULLY, NOTHING, NOWHERE IS OVERCOMING HIS FEARS. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER

DISRUPT THE NOISE 43

.

THE ONLY VERD ICT YOU NEED

A PERFECT CIRCLE EAT THE ELEPHANT eeeee

JARED LETO’S THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS ARE BACK - BUT WHAT EXACTLY ARE THEY?

M

ost bands are pretty easy to understand.

They’re in it for ‘the right’ reasons, drawn by their music, embracing a style and aesthetic that means something to them on a base level. They’re living a truth that inhibits their first thoughts in the morning, their last when they call it a night. Or at least, that’s the way we - as fans - would like to think it goes.

But when it comes to Thirty Seconds To Mars, that ideal just doesn’t feel to fit. On the surface, ‘America’ is twelve perfectly functional tracks of highly stylised modern pop. This isn’t rock music - it hasn’t even seen rock music since that time they spent an awkward Christmas together forcing polite conversation back in the late ‘00s.

And that’s fine - from Fall Out Boy to PVRIS to Paramore, we’ve seen time and again that lazy loud music pales to insignificance in the presence of inventive, forward thinking sounds that draw from a range of influences. But that’s not what’s going on here.

Instead, it’s vanilla, generic, watered down egotism.

AMERICA A monolith to INTERSCOPE narcissism through ee a prism of ‘stuff that IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU’LL sounds vaguely now’.

LIKE... YOURSELF. LOTS. It’s a collection of failed soundtrack submissions to a series of knock off superhero films nobody wants to see. It’s words presented as deeper meaning, printed on a paper thin facade of faux sincerity. It’s a load of old bollocks, mate. DAN HARRISON

THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS

‘Eat The Elephant’ is a dramatic albeit grandiose departure from the aggressive post-metal of A Perfect Circle’s past, replacing the friction of ‘Judith’ with a progressive evolution of their gentler moments, hinted at previously on the likes of ‘3 Libras’ and ‘The Noose’. Over a decade since their last display of studio wizardry, you’d be forgiven for approaching the album with some hesitation, however, if you do, you’ll be proven undeniably wrong. A Perfect Circle cement their status as masters of the emotive, the experimental, and the avant-garde. JACK PRESS

DMA’S FOR NOW eeee Opener ‘For Now’ rips and roars like a Madchester night out, and yet from there the warm midnineties Britpop charm comes and goes, glimmering away in jangling guitar riffs soaked in summer days. DMA’s songwriting has matured in leaps and bounds, their sound truly becoming their own, as psychedelic twangs and electronic synths roll on by as vocalist Tommy O’Dell delivers a vocal performance that’d be as fitting in 1995 as it is in 2018. Ripping up the rulebook and throwing away the Oasis-patched jacket in exchange for an identity all of their own, on ‘For Now’, the band have crafted their definitive sound, and by god is it beautiful. JACK PRESS

FRANK TURNER BE MORE KIND eeee

The last few years of turmoil have prompted Frank Turner to return to the barricade, but he mainly seems to want everyone to calm down a bit. The title-track asks us to ‘Be More Kind’, and Frank wants us to #MAGA by “making racists ashamed again”, which is all fair enough when it isn’t being let down by ‘1933’’s poorly thought out “Be suspicious of simple answers, that shit’s for fascists and maybe teenagers” - slagging youngsters is a weird take in 2018. Sadly there’s still some way to go before he eclipses his turn of the decade zenith. DILLON EASTOE DISRUPT THE NOISE 45

HAGGARD CAT CHALLENGER e ee e Channelling the raw intensity of Heck, vocalist Matt Reynolds and drummer Tom Marsh have harnessed their energy into a far more recognisable and accessible shape on ‘Challenger’.

There’s a clear reverence for the galloping, down-tuned guitars of Kyuss on opener ‘The Patriot’ but played with a sense of immediacy rarely heard outside of hardcore punk. Originality may not be at the forefront of Haggard Cat, but passion and energy is, and that’s worth just as much. ‘Challenger’ lays the groundwork for a captivating new force in British rock. BRAD THORNE

ICEAGE BEYONDLESS e eee There’s a brutalist sentiment that hangs over Iceage’s third outing. Their postpunk offering continues to err on the dark side; every track that makes up ‘Beyondless’ is like wandering through a wasteland trapped in the 90s, in the absolute best way possible.

While there are moments that can be terrifying, Iceage also toy with not taking themselves too seriously; ‘Thieves Like Us’ has an almost mocking tone to the way the guitars dawdle about. To freely move between solemn, rapturous and every little mood in between is a bold move - and bold is what we need. STEVEN LOFTIN

NOTHING, NOWHERE. RUINER. e eee Nothing, Nowhere has done a lot in a short space of time. On 2017’s ‘Reaper’, he built a graveyard world from his fears of loss, death and the unknown, painting himself as shadowy figure on the outside looking in. ‘Ruiner’ tears down the expectations of what comes next, replacing that focused gloom with something a lot more fluid. As every tracks takes on a different shape, it feels like Nothing, Nowhere has made peace with the scale of this project.

That never stops him from aiming higher though. ‘Ruiner’ burns with a soul-bearing honesty and the simple desire to connect. ALI SHUTLER

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PARKWAY DRIVE SHOW WHAT THEY’RE MADE OF.

I

f 2015’s ‘Ire’ was the crack in the ice, the heaviest they’ve ever made, only then Australia’s heavy metal flagthe heaviness is found within vocalist bearers Parkway Drive’s sixth album, Winston McCall’s scathing vocal ‘Reverence’ is the floodgates opening performance that desolates through the and drowning everything in sight, their channelling of his inner turmoil. Opener new-found ability to write arena metal ‘Wishing Wells’ is a blistering blur of anthems dialled up a dozen. clean and harsh vocals swimming in Parkway Drive a sea of chaos, have ridden a machine gun wave of meteoric drums collide with proportions over swirling riffs that the last decade, rattle your mind, shedding their Winston’s vocal breakdown attack exploding bruising inside your metalcoreeardrums. stomp for a Parkway Drive more accessible emulate their idols, all-round metal infusing mammoth pomp. Following grooves and a path tread kaleidoscopic riffs by many and with heartstringsurvived by few, tugging hooks that Parkway sowed are as anthemic the seeds of their clean as they are REVERENCE vision within the harsh, from the e e e e e hook-heavy jams Metallica-stolen DID YOU KNOW? ‘IRE’ SAW of Ire, and much stomp of ‘The Void’ PARKWAY LAND A SPOT IN like Avenged to the new wave THE UK ALBUMS CHART, AT Sevenfold of nu-metal via NO.23. TOP OF THE POPS. did between Slipknot punch of Nightmare and ‘Shadow Boxing’ to Hail To The King, the power-meetsParkway have dug prog of six-minute deep inside the depths of their inner slinger ‘Chronos’ to the tear-jerking darkness to bring out their true vision. jangle of solitude on closer ‘The Colour ‘Reverence’ picks up from as much as Of Leaving.’ it rips up the blueprint laid out on ‘Ire’, Much like Avenged Sevenfold and stripping back the metalcore crunch Architects before them, Parkway Drive they kept in from their past material in have staked their claim for heavy favour for a gleaming sheen that slides metal ascendancy, and if the cycle for through the fabric of the riffs of each ‘Reverence’ doesn’t end with festival and every song on ‘Reverence.’ This is headline slots and arena tours, then the most accessible record Parkway there’s something very wrong with this Drive have ever made albeit one of world JACK PRESS

PARKWAY DRIVE

SPEEDY ORTIZ

TEEN CREEPS

‘Twerp Verse’s’ first single ‘Lucky 88’ hinted that Speedy Ortiz had grabbed their pop sensibilities by the reins. A glorious, snotty anthem, it ditches the wiry riffs in favour of skittering percussion and fizzing synths, clearly indebted to Sadie Dupuis’ superb foray into poppier, electronic territory with solo project Sad13. The rest of ‘Twerp Verse’ treads back into their classic off-kilter slacker rock territory. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing – the four-piece have once again delivered a strong slice of spiky alt-rock – it’s disappointing after the irresistible opening tease. LINSEY TEGGERT

Retro-stylings aren’t always good, but the vintage Teen Creeps call back to on their debut full-length is of fine stock.

Threaded with equal parts acerbic rage and fizzing energy, from the offmelodic tones of opener ‘Sidenote’, ‘Birthmarks’ is an album that slides down with the minimum of fuss but the maximum amount of pleasure.

As the slow burning embers of centrepiece ‘Good Intentions’ glow, Teen Creeps could set alight any moment now. STEPHEN ACKROYD

TWERP VERSE e e ee

BIRTHMARKS e e e ee

TESSERACT

UNDERAOTH

Tesseract are pioneers in the realm of progressive metal, initially spearheading a resurgence in the djent movement, before venturing off to explore more melodic territories. The gradual ascent towards accessibility continues on their fourth full-length release. If each of the band’s previous releases was an experiment then ‘Sonder’ is the record that impressively Frankensteins them together, creating a powerful new beast in the process. Fifteen years into their turbulent career, Tesseract still stand apart from their contemporaries, in an ethereal universe of their own design. BRAD THORNE

They said it would never happen, but here we are. It’s 2018 and there’s a new record from Underoath. Always unpredictable, ‘Erase Me’ takes years of growth, exploration and adventure and weaves it all together. There’s still bite, but rather than screaming into the darkness, the band make sure every grievance and moment of self-doubt is heard. The best thing about ‘Erase Me’ isn’t just the simple fact that it exists; it’s that it sounds like Underoath in 2018. No, no one knew what to expect, but now we’ve got it, it makes perfect sense. ALI

THE DAMNED

WE ARE SCIENTISTS

With a career spanning well over forty years, The Damned are one of the last surviving British punk bands of their generation. Over the years, the group have tried to manipulate their snarling and biting 70s sound into something that sounds at least a tiny bit new, but for their eleventh outing, it feels like they’re filled with determination to reach for something that may just not be there anymore.

‘Evil Spirits’ sounds like several decades of disillusionment, with The Damned wondering why the world still isn’t getting better - to a very mixed result. STEVEN LOFTIN

From the opening pulses of ‘One In One Out’, it’s very clear that We Are Scientists are serving up another album of their patented banger-filled magic.

‘Megaplex’ is the New York duo’s sixth album and they’re showing no signs of slowing down; ‘Notes In A Bottle’ is the best example of what makes We Are Scientists great with Keith Murray’s vocals achieving near perfection when combined with its infectious melody.

While ‘Megaplex’ has its weak moments, it shows that Murray and Chris Cain have no intention of dropping their knack for creating huge choruses. JOSH WILLIAMS

SONDER e e ee

EVIL SPIRITS e eee

ERASE ME eeee

SHUTLER

MEGAPLEX eee

A SHORT Q&A WITH...

T

heir new album sees Teen Creeps team up with king-offuzz Rory Atwell, recording their lo-fi racket on his floating studio, Lightship 95. It was just as weird as it sounds, says singer-bass player Bert Vliegen.

Hey Bert, congrats on your debut album - does it feel to have been a long time in the works?

We recorded it in December 2016, and we had been playing the songs on it for a while, so it’s nice to finally release them. We didn’t have a label or booker, so it took some time to find the right people to work with and to give this record the release it deserves.

Did you come up against any unexpected challenges?

We recorded on a boat, so the occasional big wave hitting the studio throwing everyone off balance took some time getting used to, but other than that it was a really nice, productive recording session.

What was it like working with Rory Atwell? You’ve known him for a while?

We met him when we were playing a show with Die! Die! Die! in Belgium.

We started talking about studios, and it turned out that he had recorded a lot of records we liked, so we kept in touch. He always was our first option to record with, and it turned out great.

Does it feel like you’re recording on a boat at Lightship 95, or is it just like a normal studio but with watery views?

There’s the occasional turbulence, and small doorways (which weren’t a problem for the others, but I kept hitting my head). But the funny thing is that, due to the tides, the boat drops and rises about 20 feet over the course of a day. Not that you really notice it when you’re inside. P TEEN CREEPS’ ALBUM ‘BIRTHMARKS’ IS OUT NOW.

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ON STAG E. IN HERE .

’ TO NG ‘UN DER WO RLD JEN NA AN D CO. BRI SE BENN ETT. PHO TOS: SARA H LOUI

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LON DO N.

T

ONIGHT ALIVE HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE. THEY PLAYED KOKO BACK IN 2014 TO CELEBRATE ‘THE OTHER SIDE’ BUT A LOT HAS CHANGED SINCE. ‘Limitless’ saw them dive headfirst into calm blues, serene open spaces and a sense of peace while running from the aggression that came before. Whakaio, the band’s lead guitarist and the onstage Yin to Jenna’s bounding Yang, walked away from the group and five became four.

‘Underworld’ set out to readdress the balance. Embracing the past, returning to the child, hopeful for a future, it sees the band defiant and more true than ever. Kneejerk, heartfelt and gut-led, it twirls with a relentless urgency and live, that gets to play.

From the moment they open the ‘Book of Love’, Tonight Alive are full of bold movement. Carefree and instinctual, Jenna, Jake and Cam fill the space. Sharing and showing off in equal measure, there’s a confidence that doesn’t need the spotlight to shine. That fuck you, I won’t do what you tell attitude is still there though, middle fingers up for ‘Lonely Girl’ while the back and forth scramble of ‘Listening’ causes enough trouble by itself.

For all their conscious-rock swagger and speeches of warped beauty standards, higher mind thinking and everyday insecurities, there’s more to Tonight Alive. There’s a power to be found in using your voice, something they encourage at every opportunity, and a strength in having fun. Jenna gets in Jake’s face for ‘The Other’, beaming, distracting and emboldening, she hands the mic to the crowd for ‘Hell & Back’ but can’t help but sing along.

Doused in yellow, the band are sunny side up but never naïve to what’s on the other side. They crackle, share and roar their way through a catalogue ten years in the making, from the dream-weary swipes of ‘Disappear’ to the raining glory of ‘The Edge’, still the best thing about The Amazing Spider-Man 2. An onstage proposal follows ‘For You’ and throughout, there’s this sense of care.

Apart from their actual home of Australia, “the UK is the only other place that feels like home. You’ve created a culture on your own that we almost have nothing to do with, but I’m so glad we do.” Not that the band are content to sit back and watch. ‘Temple’ closes the night, all spindly limbs and cries of desperation. Raging against itself and others, it manages a resilient smile in the hopeless embrace. The room sees itself in the mirror.

Tonight is about celebrating the fact that some things will never be the same again.

There are affirmations in the music, comfort in the words. Tonight Alive have never been afraid of the truth. They might be back at KOKO, but they’re facing forward and more in control than ever. ALI SHUTLER

THEY’VE BEEN THROUGH A LOT, BUT TONIGHT ALIVE ARE STILL SPREADING POSITIVITY. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER

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ONIGHT ALICE FIND THEMSELVES IN THEIR AUDIENCE. FROM INTRODUCING THEIR NEW ALBUM FACE TO FACE TO FANS IN RECORD STORES ACROSS NORTH AMERICA TO THEIR HEART-FILLING BLITZ ACROSS THE UK, THE FIRST FEW WEEKS OF ‘UNDERWORLD’ EXISTING IN THE WORLD HAVE BEEN “A REALLY BEAUTIFUL CONNECTIVE EXPERIENCE WITH OUR FANS,” BEAMS JENNA. “I’ve had a lot of people come up and say, ‘I really needed something like this to come along at this time’,” adds Jake. “To know that we’re helping people by releasing music, which we love doing, is amazing.”

“The byproduct of your selfexpression helps other people, and that’s really epic,” continues Jen. “It’s not even been a year since ‘Temple’ was written. That knocks my hair off. ‘Temple’ was written in May. So was ‘Just For Now’, and ‘Disappear’, ‘In My Dreams’, ‘The Other’. All those songs were written in May last year in Nashville, they’re not even a year old, and people are in love with them and so am I. I’m still living the thread of the story that you hear on the album. It’s not finished,” she promises. “The cord has not been cut.”

Since letting people into ‘Underworld’, perspective of the songs has changed. “I was hoping but didn’t really expect people to say that ‘The Other’

has that Tonight Alive cult fanbase feeling,” explains Jen. “I did want to represent outcasts in that song. I always imagined filling out a form and it says male, female or other but you don’t feel like you can tick the boxes that are there, ‘cos you are an alternative. You are the other. I relate to that as well. It brings people together just being able to relate to the fact that you feel like an outcast. That’s what the punk scene is. It’s nice that we can contribute to that story.” Elsewhere, ‘For You’ is “an interesting one,” she says. “We’re asked is ‘For You’ dedicated to your fans, but it’s a love song.”

“That’s so cool,” grins Jake, as Jen agrees, reciting lyrics: “I’m not afraid to make mistakes.

You never asked me to change.

Whenever I’m in doubt, you put the fire out. That’s so true.

Our fans are always looking out for us. It’s a song about unconditional love for a partner and the way that whatever they do can make you feel like anything is possible. It’s pretty cool that people interpreted that as a tribute to our fans. I might just introduce it as that now.”

The band have been non-stop since the release of ‘Underworld’ and there’s no sign of them slowing down. There’s an Australian headline tour, another trip around America with Warped and then hopefully they’ll be back in the UK for festival season.

“We’re not slowing down,” promises Jen. “We’ve talked about it as well, do we need a break? Last year was hectic, DISRUPT THE NOISE 49

had problems on the last tour we did, we spoke about it and then a couple of days later, we’d be having a beer and ask what’s happening now.”

And that new mindset of transparency is matched by the new songs.

“It’s cool to see Jen come into her own onstage,” says even though we weren’t touring, it was a Jake. “I feel like you blossom in those fucking huge year so do we need a break? songs, or bloom if I’m going to quote a Do we all need to get some headspace? lyric.”

But we did just put a record out. Do you “I feel like that too,” replies Jen. “I feel put a record out and take a break? We’ve more myself in the new stuff than I do got to keep the momentum up. It’s really when we play the old songs. We were in cool though; mental health has become a Philly, and I noticed I was doing the same big topic in the band now. It’s something moves and the same spiel that I’ve done we’re all paying attention to a lot more for maybe 6 or 7 years now. I realised I and noticing in ourselves and each other. need to change this shit up. It has been an We now have a crew that is sensitive intention of mine to go onstage and not and accommodating to that. There’s no do anything that’s choreographed or that self-sacrificing bullshit. If you’re not I’ve done before. That’s super hard to do. well or you don’t feel up to something, “I used to be quite precious about you don’t do it. You need a hotel room myself. I was always afraid that if I did because you’re feeling super anxious and anything too far out, or even something you can’t be around people right now, that I thought was cool, there was a have the hotel room. That’s something we chance it would be judged and be made neglected for a long time. fun of for it. That’s always on my mind.”

“Before, we’d just sweep it under the Tonight Alive shows and the meaning rug and push through it until we got behind them have home,” continues Jake. been “enhanced”, by “Touring is an incredible ‘Underworld’, she says. lifestyle. It’s gruelling, “It’s gone deeper, and it’s it’s awesome, and we gone higher, I don’t know love it, but at the same why those two things time, it can really get seem to go together, but to you. I feel like with I get that natural high everything we’ve gone from going deeper into through in the past the source of something, year or so, why not talk that’s what I’m feeling about it?” right now. It’s such an “It’s about fucking emotional experience JENNA MCDOUGALL time,” grins Jen. “It’s nuts at our shows. I felt like being best friends and a proud mother last having known each other for more than night; I had a smile on my face that is ten years. Why aren’t we talking about very maternal. I was looking at the crowd the real shit? It’s because it’s a little bit and feeling how safe and comfortable too close for comfort sometimes. It’s cool everyone felt. to feel heard and to feel understood and “That was something I really struggled that’s the cool thing about coming into with on the Silverstein tour, the violence. adulthood. Some people might never The aggression, the pits. When you have reach that level of transparency and a pit at a Tonight Alive show, everyone is vulnerability and realise that that is a smiling and jumping, but enjoying it so strength in relationships. much. It’s so loving. I call it a dance pit; “It’s easy to admit weaknesses to a it’s not a mosh pit really. We do have fans that create a tour out of our tours. They’ve stranger because you never have to see created their own community that I feel is them again. When you do it to friends almost nothing to do with us, it’s just our or with people you live with for eight music is the soundtrack to what they’re months of the year, it’s not like you can experiencing in their lives. I feel a small just say something and it goes away; you part of something big.” P have to keep addressing it. If any of us 50 UPSETMAGAZINE.COM

T

HREE SONGS INTO FALL OUT BOY’S SET AT LONDON’S THE O2 THEY LAUNCH INTO ‘SUGAR, WE’RE GOIN DOWN’. Joe sprints down the runway in the middle of the room, excited, giddy and eager to explore, as fireworks explode behind him. Of course he doesn’t look back.

Fall Out Boy have been playing with the big boys for a while now but with the release of ‘MANIA’, they’ve finally broken free of the last remaining tethers of noughties nostalgia. Their headline slot at Reading & Leeds later this summer, the ease at which the bounce between pre- and post-hiatus anthems, the joy that erupts with every turn, the world has finally caught up with Fall Out Boy. Tonight is the second time Fall Out Boy have ever played The O2.

Against The Current already have the same tally. A lot has changed since they were first on for Good Charlotte and All Time Low, though. They’ve released a debut album, taken it around the world, and written the second. This is the start of a new chapter, and from the moody opening of ‘Blood Like Gasoline’ to the powerful chase of ‘Running With The Wild Things’, they’re determined to make every moment count.

Gone are the little band with big dreams, tonight that spotlight chases

PHOTOS: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT.

them. “Who’s heard of us before?” asks Chrissy. “I expect to see a lot more dancing then,” she grins.

Fall Out Boy have always been on the run. Each album has seen them mix things up and the duality of their celebrity has always been at war with the four kids from Chicago who wrote songs in bedrooms and played shows in basements. Tonight, their breakthrough moment of ‘Sugar…’ is immediately followed by their movie star moment of ‘Immortals’. As scenes from ‘Big Hero 6’ play on the screen behind them, there’s no shame in how anybody found their way here. As streamers erupt and sparks fly, Fall Out Boy celebrate.

Throughout the night scenes of Princess Diana, Prince William and Prince Harry share the same space as clips from movies, internet memes, video games and flying emojis as the band blur the lines between fantasy and reality. Their sense of humour finds a peace in the middle. Their playful, anything goes attitude keeps you guessing. At one point the Llamas that have littered the ‘MANIA’ cycle appear onscreen telling muppet-inspired dad jokes (“This show isn’t half bad.” “No, it’s all bad”) before walking onstage to fire t-shirts into the crowd.

Fall Out Boy took the long, hard road to get here tonight. They’ve been written off, put in boxes and tied to scenes they outgrew long ago, but that journey has sharpened their edges, made them appreciate the old but crave the new. They’re among the last ones standing, and tonight they’re standing proud. ALI SHUTLER

DISRUPT THE NOISE 51

PHOTOS: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT.

‘V

ILE CHILD’ WAS AN UNRULY CHARGE OF BATTLE AND BRILLIANCE AS MILK TEETH TRIED TO FIND A DIRECTION IN THE DIRT. ‘Be Nice’ was a purge of all that confusion, self-doubt and others peoples expectations as they embraced what they loved. Singing about bad boyfriends, poison people and the fear of fucking up, they cleared the slate for ‘Go Away’ to play.

All that leads us to tonight, and Milk Teeth headlining a sold-out show at The Underworld in London.

It feels long overdue but the band have been enjoying the ride. Every London show before this, Old Blue Last, Barfly, The Garage, has felt like A Moment for the rabble as they step up at every opportunity.

On first are Nervus who have every reason to celebrate. A few weeks back they released ‘Everything Dies’, a record that nestles its way between your ribs and makes itself at home with stories of identity, global warming and not being a dickhead. It’s delivered with smirk and sincerity.

Live, it comes to life. “Have loads of fun,” offers Em, giving the room everything they need.

From the crackle of ‘Nearby Catfight’, Milk Teeth are also game for a good time. All Polaroid pictures, pink sick and being broke, it doesn’t take long for the song to turn itself around with a wild, smirking guitar solo and a snippet of ‘The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air’. That’s about as nineties as it gets, though. The

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grunge of old has been cleaned up, replaced by bright lights, bold colours and unwavering excitement.

The millennial fuck you of ‘Brain Food’ has never sounded more current, full of rage, while the back and forth fray of ‘Lillian’ sees Milk Teeth welcoming an uncertain future.

There’s a frantic urgency to the way Milk Teeth charge through the night, anxious, hyper-excited or just seeing how far they can push the room, the band still find time to make moments shine. ‘Swear Jar’ is as transformative as always, ‘Kabuki’ sees the band toy with spotlights and shadows before an acoustic ‘Melon Blade’ sees them bathed in wistful beautiful that somehow falls into a Foo Fighters cover.

Nervus pile on stage and takeover for ‘Fight Skirt’, letting Oli and Billy go crowdsurfing while Becky (too busy singing) and Chris (too busy with a broken ankle) share beaming smiles. This is really happening. This is really fun.

The room bends to their every will, living, feeling and embracing everything the band have become. Sharing in the struggle of the everyday. And while they’ll never admit it - they’re too busy striving to be better and too easy to make jokes - somewhere between ‘Vile Child’ and tonight, Milk Teeth became probably the best band in the country.

ALI SHUTLER

DISRUPT THE NOISE 53

A

LOT OF BANDS WOULDN’T DREAM OF REMINISCING SO WHOLEHEARTEDLY ABOUT THE EARLY DAYS OF THEIR CAREER, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY’RE STILL ON THE UP BUT IT’S BEEN AGES SINCE ALL TIME LOW HAVE BEEN JUST ANOTHER BAND. Playing their second album ‘So Wrong Its Right’ in its entirety is a stark reminder of where the Baltimore fourpiece started. Coming ahead of a regular, forward facing set proves just how far they’ve come.

From the understated stage set up,

PHOTOS: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT.

the band’s album play-through is exactly what an All Time Low show would have been like a decade ago. Still full of their signature juvenile humour, the raucous, high spirited punk energy effervesced throughout Alexandra Palace while lyrics about the awkwardness of adolescence resonated with those who grew up with the record, and those who have just discovered it.

And then, as if by magic (or a very slick stage crew) the band step onto the stage with a set filled with tracks off their latest record, ‘Last Young Renegade’.

“It’s as if they haven’t played a show in eleven years”, Alex Gaskarth jokes as All Time Low prove just how much they have

M

UNCIE GIRLS HAVEN’T PLAYED A SHOW IN MONTHS BUT TONIGHT, THEY’RE BLOWING OFF THE COBWEBS WITH A LAST MINUTE SHOW AT CAMDEN’S OUR BLACK HEART. As Muncies take to the stage and kick straight into ‘Gas Mark 4’. ‘Red Balloon’ swiftly follows and while the songs are familiar, the band are not. The restless energy that drove them forward for so long is gone,

grown since 2007. Their ability to create pop-rock perfection is blinding, from the high octane classic ‘Weightless’, to new number ‘Nice2KnoU’ which mixes the punchiness of their previous material with the sensitivity of where they are now. The band’s seventh studio album is filled with futuristic synth beats that dominate the set, from ‘Life of The Party’ to ‘Afterglow’, and this shows off the level of maturity they’re now toying with. All Time Low may be a different band to who they were all those years ago, but one thing still remains the same, they know how to have a good time, and make you feel like you’re right at home. JASLEEN DHINDSA

replaced by a steely confidence as the songs swell in front of our eyes. That ragged heart that poured itself out on ‘From Caplan to Belsize’ hasn’t given up and Muncie Girls’ fragile but determined hope stays true on ‘Committee’, but it’s ‘Locked Up’ that truly shakes things up. Starting off like an urgent, rainbow ‘Everlong’ before shifting gears, it’s unafraid of being seen, longs to be heard and craves the start of something new.

It sees Muncie Girls at their razor sharp best. With a renewed energy, pointed sense of purpose and plenty more to offer, the next chapter for Muncie Girls is already full of heartfelt promise. ALI SHUTLER

EVER NEED. ALL THE TOUR NEWS YOU’ LL

ALL THOSE BANDS, ALL THOSE TOURS - IT’S HARD TO KEEP UP. SO WE’VE GATHERED TOGETHER ALL THE DATES YOU NEED RIGHT HERE IN ONE PLACE. YOU’LL NEVER NEED TO MISS OUT AGAIN. A PERFECT CIRCLE: Manchester O2 Apollo (12th June), London O2 Academy Brixton (13th) AMERICAN NIGHTMARE: London Camden Underworld (28th April), Brighton Haunt (29th) AS IT IS: Norwich Arts Centre (21st May), Sheffield Plug (22nd), Bristol The Lanters (24th), London St Pancras Old Church (25th) CANCER BATS: London Camden Underworld (26th28th April) CODE ORANGE: Nottingham Rescue Rooms (15th April), Newcastle Cluny (18th), Portsmouth

Wedgewood Rooms (22nd) CONVERGE: Manchester Academy 2 (25th April), London Camden Electric Ballroom (26th) DRENGE: Liverpool Invisible Wind Factory (25th April), London Islington Assembly Hall (26th), Bristol Lantern (27th), Brighton Old Market (28th), Manchester Gorilla (2nd May), Glasgow Art School (3rd), Newcastle Riverside (4th) EMPLOYED TO SERVE / CONJURER: Norwich Waterfront (16th May), Leicester Cookie (17th), Huddersfield Paris (18th), Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach (19th)

GLASSJAW. S EVERY TIME I DIE: London Garage (29th May) FANGCLUB: Edinburgh Mash House (7th May), Birmingham Flapper (9th), London Thousand Island (10th), Guildford Boileroom (11th), Southampton Heartbreakers (12th), Sheffield Record Junkee (13th), Oxford Cellar (15th), Leicester Cookie (16th), Newport Le Pub (17th) FOO FIGHTERS: Manchester Etihad Stadium (19th June), London Stadium (22nd-23rd) THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM: London Eventim Apollo (20th-21st July), Dublin Vicar Street (23rd), Glasgow Barrowland (24th), Manchester Eventim Apollo (25th)

GLASSJAW: London O2 Academy Brixton (18th August) HALESTORM: Dublin Academy (19th September), Belfast Limelight (20th), Sheffield O2 Academy (22nd), Glasgow O2 Academy (23rd), Birmingham O2 Academy (24th), Manchester O2 Apollo (26th), London O2 Academy Brixton (28th), Bristol O2 Academy (29th) LOWER THAN ATLANTIS: Watford Colosseum (13th), Southend Chinnerys (14th), Brighton Concorde 2 (15th), Oxford O2 Academy (3rd May), Reading Sub89 (4th), Wrexham Central Station (5th), Liverpool Hangar34 (7th), Aberdeen Lemon Tree (8th), Edinburgh Liquid Rooms (9th), Middlesbrough Empire (11th), Hull Welly (12th), York Fibbers (13th), Sheffield Plug (14th) MALLORY KNOX: Brighton Haunt (16th April), Cardiff Globe (17th), Exeter Cavern (18th), Stoke Sugarmill (20th), Glasgow King Tut’s (22nd), Manchester Rebellion (23rd), Birmingham Mama Roux’s (24th), Nottingham Bodega (26th) MARMOZETS: Norwich Waterfront (4th May), Liverpool O2 Academy (5th), Newcastle Hit The North Festival (6th), Exeter Lemon Grove (7th), Northampton Roadmenders (9th), Coventry Kasbah (10th), Oxford O2 Academy (11th)

MARMOZETS. S

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METZ: Glasgow Stereo (30th April), Dublin Whelans (1st May), Manchester Soup

JULIEN BAKER HAS ANNOUNCED A FEW UK DATES THIS SEPTEMBER

Kitchen (2nd), Ramsgate Music Hall (3rd), Nottingham Rescue Rooms (27th August), Cardiff Globe (28th) MOVEMENTS: Leicester Cookie (30th April), Newcastle Think Tank? (1st May), Glasgow King Tut’s (2nd), Leeds Key Club (4th), Manchester Night People (5th), Birmingham Asylum (6th), Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach (7th), Brighton Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar (8th), London Camden Assembly (9th) OF MICE & MEN: Bristol O2 Academy (21st April), Glasgow O2 ABC (22nd), Manchester O2 Ritz (23rd), Birmingham O2 Institute (25th), Norwich UEA (26th), London KOKO (27th) PIANOS BECOME THE TEETH / FOXING: London Bush Hall (August 9th-10th), Brighton The Haunt (11th), Manchester Rebellion (12th), Dublin Wheelan’s (13th), Glasgow Stereo (14th), Newcastle The Cluny (15th) QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE: London Finsbury Park (30th June) THE BRONX: Manchester Gorilla (9th June), London Electric Ballroom (10th) THE MAINE: London Camden Dingwalls (6th June), Manchester Deaf Institute (7th)

J

ulien Baker is visiting Europe again this August and September, and recently announced new dates in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and loads more – and now she’s also confirmed some for the UK. The run coincides with her set at End of the Road - which runs from 30th August2nd September - and will see her play Manchester, Glasgow, Dublin and London.

The live shows are in support of her latest

album ‘Turn Out The Lights’; the 11-track effort came out last year via Matador Records. P

JULIEN BAKER: Manchester Gorilla (24th September), Glasgow St Lukes (25th), Dublin Vicar Street (27th), London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire (29th)

THE USED: Bristol O2 Academy (27th August), Nottingham Rock City (28th), Manchester O2 Ritz (30th), London O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire (31st) TOUCHÉ AMORE: Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms (10th July), London The Dome (11th), Nottingham Rescue Rooms (12th) TWIN ATLANTIC: Newcastle Riverside (24th May), Norwich Waterfront (30th), Southampton Engine Rooms (1st June), Cardiff Tramshed (3rd) DISRUPT THE NOISE 57

WITH...

MARK’S PLAYLIST... + NEIL YOUNG - CORTEZ THE KILLER + JIMI HENDRIX - ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER + INXS - NEW SENSATION + FLEETWOOD MAC - THE GREEN MANALISHI + THE WHO - MY GENERATION + JONI MITCHELL - RIVER + CATATONIA - MULDER AND SCULLY + RADIOHEAD - FAKE PLASTIC TREES + FUGAZI - BED FOR THE SCRAPING + RX BANDITS - MASTERING THE LIST

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WHEN YOU LOAD UP SPOTIFY, A GREAT BIG CHUNK OF THE TIME YOU CAN’T THINK WHAT TO PLAY, RIGHT? OVERWHELMED BY PRETTY MUCH ALL THE MUSIC EVER, YOU DEFAULT BACK TO YOUR OLD FAVOURITES, THOSE ALBUMS AND SONGS YOU PLAYED ON REPEAT WHEN YOU FIRST DISCOVERED YOU COULD MAKE THEM YOURS. THIS ISN’T ABOUT GUILTY PLEASURES; IT’S ABOUT THOSE SONGS YOU’LL STILL BE LISTENING TO WHEN YOU’RE OLD AND IN YOUR ROCKING CHAIR. This month, Black Foxxes’ Mark Holley takes us through the songs that made him who he is today.

I was so fortunate to be brought up in such a heavily rich musical environment as a kid. I was genuinely only ever played the good stuff; I remember my dad making me countless mixtapes of Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, Neil Young. I never understood why the kids in school were listening to Hanson and Britney Spears; I hated modern music until I discovered the whole posthardcore/emo arrival with Fugazi etc.

BLACK FOXXES

I’ve selected a mixed bunch for this playlist, all of the songs selected have influenced me massively whether it’s with their songwriting or attitudes towards the industry or life in general.

I learnt SO much from Joni Mitchell for example, her dynamics on River are hauntingly beautiful. The way she will strip a song back to just her voice, she is so confident in the delivery. Songs like that made me realise I could really experiment with songwriting dynamically.

I remember being about 13 hearing Fugazi for the first time and everything changing, the way they incorporated melody with rage was so intoxicating. I was in awe of how powerful that band were; I remember borrowing all of my friends CDs and listening to them on repeat for days. I had never heard anything like that. I still haven’t. Bands like Idles excite me a lot, I think they’ve got a good slice of Fugazi in them, but nothing’s touched that band for me.

If you haven’t heard these artists/songs, go and educate yourselves. Put down that fucking Neck Deep record and listen to something real.

Music’s cool. P

U N DE ROATH777.COM FEAR LESSR ECOR DS.COM